


Dead Still

by PleasantlyWeird



Category: Eric Northman - Fandom, Forrest Bondurant - Fandom, Lawless (2012), Sookie Stackhouse - Fandom, Tom Hardy - Fandom, True Blood
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-09-19
Updated: 2013-09-19
Packaged: 2017-12-27 02:09:19
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 28
Words: 56,424
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/973041
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PleasantlyWeird/pseuds/PleasantlyWeird
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sookie Flees Bon Temps after Eric marries the Queen of Oklahoma, swearing off supes and vampires for good.She soon meets some pure country, back woods, good old boy vampires and become enmeshed in the world she'd hoped to escape. But you should never count the Viking out...</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for taking the time to read my writing. If you do read, please review!

Finding normal in a new town wasn't easy. After a lifetime in Bon Temps adjusting to new scenery isn't natural. Trading the swamps of Louisiana for the Appalachian Mountains has been culture shock indeed. But the people of East Tennessee aren't so different, even the accent is similar to the one I will never shake. I could never go back to the life I lived before, the one that ended when Eric Northman married the Queen of Oklahoma.

Heartbreak is never an easy dish to consume; the loss of someone you thought was your soul mate is a true shit pie. There was no staying in the only home I had ever really known. Everywhere I'd looked there had been the ghost of my great love affair. No place in the old homestead had gone un-christened. Every throw pillow was tainted by memory, every corner haunted by the suggestion of Eric.

I had literally put my finger on a map of the eastern United States and had picked Newport, Tennessee as my new home. I'd hired a moving company with the last of my funds from my foray in Dallas. Rent was cheap in East B.F.E. and I'd found a waitressing job at a little restaurant called The Grease Rack on my second day in town. It was a nice place, popular with the locals and I was adjusting. Sharon was my boss and while she was no Sam Merlotte she was nice enough to work for. I'd found a fast friend in a girl named Kelley. She was nothing like anyone else I ever worked with, genuine and funny as hell. She'll be the first one I reveal my little disability to if I choose to tell anyone at all. I make good tips and am already getting regulars. I get a little nervous about the fact that we serve mixed drinks in what is supposed to be a dry county but Sharon assures me that in the 35 years they've been open there has never been a problem.

My new place is much smaller than Gran's house had been so much of my furniture went into storage. I like the little board and batten house on 9th street hill. It doesn't faze me that the town's cemetery is situated in my back yard. It's nothing that I haven't experienced before. The dead don't cause problems; it's the undead you have to guard against.

Newport could be any little town in any state. It doesn't seem that much has really changed over the years here; it's almost like a living time capsule. Newport has its quirks; there is a white cross on the cliff overlooking the Pigeon River that some say commemorates an ill-fated young couple who were denied permission to marry and decided to leap into the swirling waters below. I know that it's actually to memorialize a young boy who was hit by a train; I was curious enough to research the cross in my spare time. I guess the idea of star crossed lovers is easier to swallow than childhood tragedy so that's the legend that sticks with the people here.

I would have to say that if there are two major things that make Newport and all of surrounding Cocke County stand out they are the colossal amount of marijuana and moonshine that are produced and sold here. I can't say much about the weed personally, I've been told that Cocke County is the marijuana capitol of the Eastern U.S., I know for a fact that homemade liquor is still a major cash crop in this area. One of the most popular drinks served at The Grease Rack is called a Drunk Hillbilly and it's made with moonshine. It's aptly named because drinking more than one will produce exactly that. I've never personally seen the weekly shipment come in but I know that it's always delivered at night and with good reason. Moonshining is still illegal, even in East By-God Tennessee.

My phone ringing snaps me out of my daydream and makes me realize that I have been brushing my hair for twenty minutes straight. I lay the brush on the vanity top and answer my cell.

"Hello?"

"Sookie, its Sharon, listen I have a hell of a favor to ask you, doll baby."

"Okay…" I reply hesitantly. I've never forgotten how doing favors for people has gotten me bruised, beaten, and bitten in the past.

"I need you to come in for a little while tonight, not to wait tables but to wait for a delivery. Merle is down in his back again, he's real bad and needs me to drive him to Knoxville to get it checked. I know I've told you this a million times but you just don't go to the doctors here in Newport or anywhere you can get to in less than an hour."

She doesn't need to tell me what delivery. I know it's the moonshine and I am not happy about it. My plan along with this relocation was to stay above the seedy side of life, to toe the line, to be a model citizen and to not ever need to drive over an hour to the hospital. Funny that I never used to believe that I was psychic but these coincidences are becoming more frequent. How freaky is it that I was just thinking about it and here Sharon calls with a favor. My silence must be echoing my reticence because she speaks again, her voice pleading.

"I wouldn't ask sweetie but I'm stuck. Kelley has that thing at the private school for her kid tonight and every other person I could depend on is working the shift. I really, really need this…"

I sigh because I know that I can't refuse her and also because somehow I know this is going to come back and bite me in the ass.

"You got it Sharon. How long is this going to take? I had plans for tonight," I'm lying and I'm pretty sure Sharon knows it but I really want her to know how put upon I feel.

"It never takes more than an hour to get the shipment in the door, all you have to do is count the jars with Howard and give Forrest the money. I'll have the envelope laying on the desk for you."

"Okay Sharon," I say petulantly.

"And Sookie, um, just watch yourself, I've never had any trouble from the Bondurants but they are a… peculiar sort. Just count the jars and hand over the envelope, that's all I need you to do."

I hang up and wonder what the hell I've just got myself in to.


	2. Chapter 2

It seems weird to be in the Rack out of uniform and hanging out in Sharon's office. The dining room is as busy as usual and the din of silverware clinking on porcelain combined with the sound of WIMZ country radio playing over the sound system is grating on my nerves. I'm like a live wire; my senses are on full alert. I have a feeling that something huge is on the horizon, something that I don't want any part of.

I'm twenty minutes early; good old dependable Sookie Stackhouse, chronically prompt to a fault. Maybe I should think about becoming a tardy, unreliable, sort of person. I'd bet then no one would ever ask me to do these special favors that always seem to fuck me in every sense of the word.

I look at some of the pictures hanging on Sharon's wall and it makes me think of Sam. It had been really hard to say goodbye to him especially when I could read in his mind how much he cared for me. I just couldn't reciprocate his feelings; he could never compare to what I'd had with Eric. My only option had been to run, no, flee Bon Temps practically in the middle of the night. Eric was still in Shreveport and still angry with me at the time that I left and I hadn't wanted or needed any complications from him. Although our relationship was over and done with he'd still considered me an employee and had expected me to act as such. Fuck that shit; I wasn't going to be at the beck and call of my ex-lover. How much pain can one woman take?

Sam had begged and pleaded for me not to go. When that had gotten him nowhere he had pledged to leave with me, to start over wherever I wanted to go. It had been hard to look him in his eyes and tell him no, that I wanted a clean break from any and all memories of my life in Bon Temps, of any and all ties to the supernatural. But deep down inside I knew that the supernatural would be anywhere I decided to run to. I would spend the rest of my life doing my best to avoid the very types of creatures that had enveloped my life for most of my adult years.

I hear a light tapping on the office door, I can tell from the thoughts coming from the other side that it's Bobby, the busboy/kitchen bitch as we lovingly call him.

"Yeah?" I call out, trying to keep up the charade of a non-telepath.

"Sookie, there's someone at the backdoor."

"Thanks, Bobby. I'm headed that way."

I grab the envelope from the desk and head out of the office. Dread builds up in my stomach like a rock, crawls up my spine like a spider. There's a thick portent in the air and I have trouble walking through it. It's the feeling I should have felt the night Bill Compton strolled into Merlotte's, the way I should have been warned when I walked into Fangtasia the first time.

I jerk open the back door and look straight into the waistband of the person lurking outside. I look up and up and then up some more before I finally find the dark spot where a face will be once the lurker is out of the shadows. Only then do I recognize the lack of thoughts coming from the stranger. It's a vampire, a god damned vampire.

"Howdy ma'am, my name's Howard Bondurant. Is Sharon available?"

The accent is not east Tennessee, close to it but there is a different twang hidden in the drawl.

"Sharon isn't here tonight; I'm guessing you're here to make a delivery? I'm supposed to count the jars and pay you."

"And you are?" says a voice from further in the shadows. It sounds rusty, unused, like the door hinges of an abandoned house being pushed open by the wind.

"I'm the one holding the money, the one who is anxious to get this shit over with. How's this work? What do I need to do?"

The rusty voice issues a low, short growl that makes me think of Alcide Herveaux for a split second. I shiver involuntarily and take a small step back from the door.

"Jack," the voice grumbles, "start carrying in, apparently the lady has better things to do."

I send my "feelers" out and count a total of three blank spots, recognize them as vampires, and then steel my reserve. I back up against the wall as a short, well dressed vampire walks in carrying a crate of mason jars. Could this be anymore cliché? Mason jars? I snort before I can stop myself.

"Well, well Jack. Little Miss thinks you're funny," says Rusty (as I have come to call him) and I throw my hands up in protest.

"No, not at all," I sputter as the first vampire comes through the door carrying a second crate. Howard, as he had introduced himself, is taller than Eric but much thinner. Scars crisscross his face and I can't help but to take a time out from my protesting to wonder how he'd gotten them.

The third vampire, whom I can only guess is the one Sharon had called Forrest, steps into the dimly lit hallway. All I can see is his full mouth because he has a very gangster-like fedora pulled down over his eyes. I can't stop staring at his pouting, lush lips, the muscles in his jaw and the way they work as he chews on toothpick. It's like I'm in a trance. I know he's saying something to me but I can't comprehend what the hell it is.

"Wha…?" I manage to mumble.

"I said we've got it all carried in. Howard will count it with you, there'll be forty-eight quarts, at twelve a quart, I'll expect there to be an even six hundred in that envelope, including transport and fuel."

I tear my gaze away from his face and head to the stock room. Howard is ready for me and we make short work of counting the jars. Just as Forrest had said there are forty-eight quart jars of white lightning in the haul. I feel Forrest's eyes on me even before I turn and confirm that the vampire is watching me. I reach into my pocket and take the envelope out, trying to still the shaking of my hand as I extend it towards him. A crooked smirk hooks the corner of his mouth as he reaches out for it. I notice the sharp point of a fang as he moves the toothpick from one corner of his mouth to the other. The fact that his fangs are out scares the shit out of me and thrills me at the same time. What the fuck is wrong with me?

Forrest pockets the envelope and turns for the door.

"Aren't you going to count it?"

"Naw, no reason to. I know where to find you if it comes up short."

And just like that he walks into the night. I can't even admit to myself how every nerve in my body starts to protest the loss of his presence. This is the big bad feeling I was getting earlier. The last thing I need to do is feel something, anything, for a vampire.

"Miss?"

I jump out of my skin as the smaller one named Jack comes from behind me.

"Sookie, my names Sookie."

"Miss Sookie, it was real nice to meet you," he says, his hat in his hand.

"You too, Jack," I say more as a polite gesture than as a truth.

He backs out the door as a horn honks impatiently.

"Goddammit, come on Jack!" I hear Howard yell.

I look timidly out the door in time to see a white cargo van pull out of the parking lot. Forrest Bondurant is in the passenger seat, his arm resting on the window, staring at me as they pass by.

Oh my.


	3. Chapter 3

Sleep is not going to come easy this night. It's been hours since I left the Rack and drove the two short miles to my house. There's a light rain pattering softly on the tin of the roof that would normally lull me to sleep. Not this night though, this night all I can do is toss restlessly as the image of those soft, full lips of a vampire burns itself into my mind. I replay over and over the way that damned toothpick passed across the pillow-y sea of his bottom lip from one corner to the other. I thrill at the memory of the flash of fang, the skin on my neck echoes the recollection of the piercing pleasure of my vein feeding the needs of an undead lover as the rest of my body is lost in…

"Dammit! Stop this shit right now!" I scream into my pillow.

Seriously, I ran hundreds of miles from the only life I have ever known to escape the supes and vamps and here I am ready to fall on another cold dick just because he had amazing lips.

You know you'll never be able to have a normal relationship. You know hearing a man's thoughts will ruin it for you every time.

"Oh shut up, just shut the hell up," I tell myself because it's only me that I am arguing with. There isn't another soul in sight to tell my woes to.

Sookie Stackhouse, you're doomed to be alone. You can't handle a regular man and you're terrified to love another vampire. Eric Northman has ruined you completely. No matter how far you run you can't escape that truth.

"You're such a bitch."

We're apparently a crazy bitch since we're sitting here at three a.m. arguing with ourselves.

I get up and pull my robe on. My feet slap on the hardwood floor as I yank open my bedroom door and head towards the kitchen. I know sleep isn't coming so I decide a glass of tea isn't going to do much to make things worse.

I hear the train whistle from downtown echo up through the neighborhoods between it and myself. The sound is lonely and faint and makes me feel sad for some reason. How nice would it be to hop on a train, not knowing the destination and not caring? Is that really much different from what I did when I left Bon Temps? I'd said goodbye to life-long friends, people who had been there for me through many difficult times, turned my back on people who loved me regardless of my fucked up abilities, and who had forgiven me all the times that my lifestyle had put them in harm's way. And for what? So I could come to some other Podunk town and create a whole new set of problems with a new vampire? Now is the time that I really need a good friend to give me the ultimate face slap and to tell me to snap out of it. I shouldn't care how luscious Forrest's mouth was, how his surly demeanor really baked my biscuits, how the cocky way he tilted his hat to hide his eyes made me want to sidle closer…

"You're doing it again, Stackhouse," I mumble out loud.

I finish the tea and head inside. I hear a faint rumbling and realize that it's my phone vibrating on the sofa table. I pick it up and immediately drop it back. The caller ID displays a name that chills the marrow in my bones.

Eric Northman.

I'm not prepared for this, the wound is too fresh. I feel the tears begin to well up simply from reading his name. All the love I felt for him, hell, STILL feel for him knots up in my throat and comes out as a very loud, un-ladylike sob. And yet I see my hand act on its own accord, reach out for the phone, see my fingers manipulate the touch screen to answer and feel my elbow bend to bring the instrument of annihilation to my ear. My arm is a traitorous alien; I am not ready for this.

I don't say hello, I can't. My breath is caught in my throat along with a gloppy, sticky, mess of regret and angst.

"Sookie," his voice is familiar yet foreign. It's been months since I heard it breathe my name. It used to soothe me, excite me. Now it only incites pain, pain that I am ill-equipped to handle. "I can hear you breathing, lover."

"Don't you dare fucking call me that," I manage to sputter. The time for that endearment is long past. He belongs to another now; he will never be my lover again.

"What is this I feel from you? I know the bond was severed and yet I still feel you. You still call out to me somehow. You'll never be free of me nor me of you."

"I thought I made myself clear the last time we talked, Eric. I have nothing else to say to you and want to hear nothing you might have to say to me."

"My dear, regardless of what you think, I have not relinquished my desire for you simply because I am wed to that bitch queen. You know I had no choice…"

"Just stop right there Eric. Stop. We all have a choice. You just chose not to shake the tree, you were afraid of what might fall out. I sacrificed everything to be with you and at the first sign of your own trouble you give up and take the easy way out."

"You know some of the facts but not all. There are things that I cannot tell you, things that might endanger you if you knew."

"Spare me, Eric. After all I've been through there is nothing you can say to convince me that worse was on the horizon. Don't call me anymore. There's nothing else to be said."

I hang up the phone before he can say anything else. I feel the tears threaten to fall and screw my eyes closed against them. I won't shed another tear for Eric. I can't.

I feel a blip cross the screen of my mind, a telltale blank spot but it's gone as soon as I sense it. No matter, I'm charting a course for my bed and pillows. I numb myself to the situation and head to the sanctuary of my bed. I'm suddenly sleepy.


	4. Chapter 4

Forrest's POV

As Howard pulls in behind the barn I realize that I've missed the ride back home completely. For a second my mind expects to see the clapboard siding that covered what used to be my home. But home these days is much different than it used to be. We've gone from living in the back rooms of a ramshackle gas station to a high tech fortress in the middle of nowhere.

"Jack, Howard, ya'll get what's left out of the van and pack it up in the barn. I'll check the still and meet ya'll in the house."

"Swear ta god Howard, eighty years almost and we're still his fuckin' slaves."

"Shut up Jack and open up the goddamn van."

I smile once I turn away from them. Almost eighty years and Howard still never thinks to question the orders I bark out and Jack never fails to. I know there's no one been messing around here, I would've smelled them by now, but checking anyway gives me the excuse I need to clear my mind, to think about the girl and other things.

I bragged often in my human life about being immortal but when the offer of true immortality was given me I balked. Who really means to live forever, to watch all your kin fall away into sickness and infirmity while you stay put? When it came down to the meat of the matter, I took it partly because I was a damned coward and partly to save someone else; I'd asked another man to do it to Howard and Jack too for the same reason. I'd not desired to face the world without them by my side. I'd done a lot of wrong in my life, took things that weren't mine to take. I'd been an honest man but a vicious one. I was probably self-righteous without cause and too proud, but honest none the less. But a fear of flames and the echoing voices of the fire and brimstone preachers of my youth made me fear to die. So I chose to become an unnatural, an abomination. It wasn't long before I doled out country justice to my maker. No Bondurant had ever been a slave, I wasn't about to be the first.

The first years after the turning we hid. It weren't as easy for my brothers and me because mountain folk are superstitious people. There had always been stories told around campfires and hearths about monsters that stole from crib and bed during the night. You'd never understand why something might prey on the innocent until you felt that burning in every part of your body, that hunger to consume, that fire that scorched its way through your veins hotter than white lightnin' ever could.

We'd kept to the familiar and carried on making our liquor but not to sell, instead we used the still to lure and trap. We preyed on the revenuers, still hoppers, and criminals that always came to trespass and try to take what wasn't theirs. Time passed and we got bolder, came out of our holler and started selling shine to a new generation that didn't know of the Bondurant's. Most time such things transacted in the dark of the night anyways so it was nothing suspicious. Howard was the one who learnt the hard way about sunlight. His face still bears the scars from it.

Eventually Virginia became foreign to our way of life. We could no longer blend in to our surroundings and made the move to Tennessee. Jack, who had always been more of a forward thinker than me or Howard, had done the research and found Cocke County, Tennessee, a place where we could blend in and exist. It is true enough that vampires outed themselves years ago to the world but for some reason my brothers and I had never been recognized as vampires. We don't look like them, we are not pale as most of them are and we always pass for human without fail. I've never known why this is; I only recall that our Maker did not look inhuman either.

We'd known about Papa Manny our entire lives. He was a Melungeon medicine man who'd kept to himself even more than we had. I remember when I got sick with the flu the same time that Ma and Pa had, how he'd come to heal us, how he'd leaned over my bed and asked me how bad did I want to live? Years later we would meet again under life and death circumstances and I would choose this life without knowing enough to make an informed decision. If I had known the plans he had, the reasons behind why he wanted to change me I never would have said yes. It led to me ending him but I don't regret killing the one who gave me this life.

I never said much out loud when I was a breathing man and I still don't. Many took me for simple because of this; I didn't work too hard to change their opinion of me. Over the eighty years of this existence I've educated myself to adapt to this quick changing world. I never had much use for reading when I lived but as the years stretched on it became a comfort to me. You can only make so much moonshine, play so many games of Rook with your knuckle head brothers before you start to feel the loneliness. I still sound country and maybe a little ignorant but it's all a ruse. Most people realize too late that country doesn't mean simple or stupid. I work it to my advantage frequently.

"Forrest, we got everything unloaded. How about we play a game of Rook and drink some True Blood?" Jack is a mainstreamer down to his toes, always trying to push that bottled shit down my throat.

"Naw, Jack. I ain't hungry. I got some business I need to see about. Tell Howard to keep out of the barn, I don't want him in there experimenting anymore with shine and that synthetic shit. I'll be home before the sun comes up."

"You're headed to see that woman ain't you?"

"Never you mind, boy. Do what I say."

"I ain't your boy," Jack grumbles as he heads towards the house.

I could never curse another single soul with this existence. I don't consider it a life as much as penance for the wrong I did long ago. Do I regret having Papa Manny bring Howard and Jack into this nightmare with me? Yes. But without them I would be completely alone. Howard is the only one who ever lamented the change and that was only once he realized that moonshine didn't have the same effect on him anymore. He spends way too much time now trying to figure out a way for vampires to get drunk. I have never even considered letting anyone else close, at least not until tonight. That girl, she knew what we were, I could feel it. I could smell something on her, from her, which I couldn't pinpoint. Was it fear? No, she wasn't one whit afraid of any of us. I have to know why.

The wind whips around me as I run towards town again. In all my years since I last felt the beating of a heart in my chest I've ignored the comings and goings of people. I make moonshine with my brothers and we sell it more out of habit than a need for money. I was never one for a fancy coat or a rack full of hats, Jack is the one who spends his money on those things. I pass the time on the ridge by my still, reading and contemplating this existence. Sometimes I miss the old days, the old ways, but nothing much stirs me. Nothing that is, until her, the tow headed woman from the bar. She flustered me tonight and I won't be able to rest until I figure out why.

I find myself back at the restaurant, it doesn't take me long to lock onto her scent and even less time to track her to where she lives. I can hear her talking to someone; it never occurred to me that she might not live alone.

"Don't call me anymore. There's nothing else to be said," I hear her say and then the sound of the phone finding a place to rest on wood.

The same peculiar feeling that I got from the bar, like invisible tentacles reaching out all around me comes again and then I am running towards home. It won't do to let her know that I'm following her or that she has me fascinated.


	5. Chapter 5

"Who is that?" I ask Kelley as I eye a woman who seems to be in the middle of an interview with Sharon.

"Some chick looking for a waitressing job, I seated her when she came in. Cool accent, I guess she's Darby's replacement."

"Darby's leaving?"

I'm annoyed as I tie my apron. I slept next to none last night, I'm craving chocolate and Kelley had informed me that we had no busboy as soon as I walked in the door.

"Yeah, the divorce is final next week and so she's planning on packing up and moving closer to her parents in South Carolina."

It really didn't make that much difference to me, Darby was just Arlene in a shorter, fatter, brown-headed package.

"Kelley, can I ask you something?"

"Sure doll, anything."

"Does Newport have many vampires?" I lower my eyes and pretend to pick lint off of my work shirt.

"None that I've ever seen, from what I heard when I first moved here a bunch of the townsfolk got together Frankenstein-style and ran them out right after the whole great reveal brouhaha."

"There were plenty where I used to live," I say, unable to hide the catch in my voice.

"I dated a vampire once, back in Georgia, before I moved here. Nice guy but my family never approved and it got to be too complicated. I thought my dad blew a gasket the first time he saw a hickey on my neck but it didn't compare to the first time he saw puncture wounds," she laughs as she grabs two drafts from Ruble the bartender. He scowls at her as she turns and walks away; apparently he is not a fan of fanged people.

I grab an order pad from the bar and check my ponytail in the decorative mirror hanging above the whiskey. The smile is on my face, practiced and attractive but also phony and forced. I feel like a fraud as I turn to head out into the dining room. I almost run face first into Sharon and the new girl.

"Simmer down there Sook," Sharon laughs as she grabs me by the shoulders, "This here is Anita, she is from England and just moved here with her family. She's replacing Darby."

"Nice to meet you," I say as I stick out my hand and she takes it. Her hand is warm and I feel such a good vibe from her that my smile goes from phony to genuine in less than a second.

"Same here, poppet. I'm looking forward to working with you."

Her smile is as toasty as her hand; I think I'm going to really like this girl.

"She's training tonight, grab her shirt and an apron, I want you and Kelley to show her the ropes for me. Once you get her settled come back to my office. I need the details about how last night went," she calls over her shoulder as she cuts out from behind the bar.

"Mile a minute that one," Anita says as I hand her an order pad.

"You ain't seen nothing yet sister, come with me and I'll introduce you to Kelley."

I get Anita introduced to the rest of the crew and head on back to Sharon's office.

"Knock, knock boss."

"Come on in Sookie," I hear her call from behind her desk. I walk in to see her much like I would find Sam on any given day, hip deep in paperwork. "So, how'd it go?"

"Smooth, no problems."

"Good, glad to hear it. So what did you think of them?"

I raise my eyebrow at Sharon and she chuckles, she's no idiot so there's no sense in me playing coy with her.

"They were… nice," I say and it ends up sounding more like a question than an answer.

"You saw what I mean about them being peculiar?"

"You don't know do you?" I blurt out before I really think.

"Know what?"

Oh shit, oh shit, OH SHIT. Looking back now I realize that they didn't look like vampires and that no one around here knows. Whatever I say next has the potential to get them chased out of town with pitchforks and torches. I can't even begin to fathom why that thought upsets me.

"That they're backwards," I blurt out the lie like my life depends on it.

"Oh hell Sookie, everyone who ever met them boys knows that."

I turn and leave before my verbal diarrhea causes any problems. It doesn't take long for me to get into the groove of a very busy dinner shift. The Grease Rack is a favorite place to come for a steak and drinks and I've never failed to make at least a hundred bucks in tips whenever I've worked.

Anita really doesn't need any training as it turns out; she's already charmed diners with her easy mannerisms and personality. She's more than helpful throughout the night to both Kelley and I and we agree to split our tips with her.

As the last of the customers are cutting out, I call the one cab in all of Cocke County to come and take Mr. Beamer home. He's far too drunk to drive himself and is slumped on a barstool with his head on the padded rail of the bar. Ruble is putting away the last of the clean glasses, scowling at Mr. Beamer and us three girls in the corner as we count the tips.

"Seriously though, you birds don't need to front me a dime," Anita protests as I hand her a third of what I made tonight.

"Doll," Kelley drawls as she scoots a pile of money towards her as well, "It's the least we can do, and you ran your ass off tonight to help us out. We wouldn't have made it without you since we were down a busboy."

"Yeah, tomorrow night you two will be here trudging away and I'll be on a date with some handsome stranger," I joke as I pocket the rest of my tips.

"I wish you were serious, you've been a damned nun since you came here," Kelley says and stops when she sees the look on my face. She's struck a nerve; I can't deny what she's saying. My life is pretty pathetic. "Aww sugar, you know I didn't mean anything by it…"

"No, I know, but you're right. The truth hurts…"

"Perhaps one of these nights the three of us can have a night shift off together and get up to no good," Anita is smiling and her mood is infectious. Kelley and I both smile in agreement. "Pukka."

"Pukka?" I ask, completely dumbfounded.

"Good, proper," she explains. There might be a communications problem on the horizon. But as long as she's willing to translate I'm willing to learn.

My body aches and my muscles protest as I head towards my car. All I am thinking about is that claw footed porcelain tub at home that's big enough to swim in.

"Evenin'," a voice calls out to me, a low, rusty, and undeniably sexy voice. Even still I can't help but grab my chest in surprise and take a step back from where the sound is carrying out of the shadows. "Didn't mean to startle you."

"No, it's okay. Just wasn't expecting anyone to be out here. Um, can I help you with something?"

"Well ma'am, I came to ask permission to call on you some time."

I can't help it, Bill Compton is immediately brought to mind, and he'd asked the same thing in almost the same exact way. My silence communicates more than words ever could.

"I'm sorry. I won't trouble you no more."

"I wish you were serious, you've been a damned nun since you came here."

"No, I know, but you're right. The truth hurts…"

"Forrest!" I call out to the darkness, afraid that he's already gone.

"Yes ma'am?"

"I would most certainly like to be called upon."

He steps out of the shadows and I see his full lips draw into one of the most achingly beautiful smiles that ever graced a face. He's holding his hat in his hands and I can see that unlike last night, he has put some effort into his appearance.

"When?" he asks, a true man of few words. This could get complicated. If I spend time with him and he doesn't say much what will we do to fill the silence? I can't believe how my body betrays me when wicked possibilities start crossing my mind.

"I don't work tomorrow."

"I'll see you after sunset."

And he's gone. I don't have to tell him where I live, he already knows. I don't even mind that he came around last night. He's as taken with me as I am with him. This could be bad.


	6. Chapter 6

I'm frantically looking through my closet and I have nothing, NOTHING to wear on my date tonight with Forrest the vampire.

Seriously, what the hell are you doing? Didn't you run from this? Didn't you swear that you would never, ever, EVER get involved with the supernatural again?

Standing in front of the full length mirror in my bedroom I take stock of my nude body. Scars are all I see, cuts, stitch marks, even fucking bite marks left over from my run in with two sadistic fairies. I know there are so many more in places that I can't see, like the ones a maenad once left on my back. Not to mention the mental scars left from my foray into the supernatural world. Who could love this body, this patchwork of painful mementos? Anyone with half a brain would take one look at me, see these scars and then run the other way.

I settle at last for a red sundress with a white half sweater and some white sandals. Of course I have some lovely matching red underwear on but I wonder why I bother. There is no way this guy is seeing the goodies tonight.

This guy… this guy is good looking in such a different way than… than the vampires that I won't speak of. I mentally envision him and it gives me more than a little thrill to do so. He's nowhere near as tall as he who shall not be named, possibly only a few inches taller than me, dark hair but not as dark as he who shall not be named number two. Broader in the shoulders than anyone, stocky but not fat, strange sense of style but I can't say that I don't like it. His eye color is still a mystery; I've not gotten close enough to say for sure. And those lips, Jesus Shepherd of Judea the lips on him. His mouth is a thing of beauty, artwork by the Lord above; soft looking, like two pillows sitting above a strong chin and below a straight, proud nose. He looks like just what he is; a country boy bootlegger who already has me way to interested in him.

What is it that is drawing me to this guy? I mean yeah, he's good looking but I have never been one who goes on the physical alone. He's said less than twenty words to me so I really can't say much about his personality. Why am I so drawn to him? Am I that lonely? I don't think so; there have been many dating opportunities for me here in Newport. I get hit on quite a bit at work and some of those guys are every bit as good looking as Forrest. I've never accepted a single request, not one. At least not until a vampire, the very thing I moved here to avoid, asked me out.

I pick up my hairbrush and start working out the tangles. I wish it were as easy to untangle my emotions and motivations as this.

"Sookie, you are an enigma, even to yourself," I say out loud. I don't even try to protest myself. How can I argue with that? It's easy to be introspective in a moment like this but I still self-evaluate. I decide to put it aside, just to live in the moment and see where this night takes me. I mean, he might decide he doesn't like me all that much when he takes me out tonight especially after he sees how awkward I am.

The long shadows that lay across the floor indicate that it won't be long before sundown. Vampires as a whole are prompt and I expect Forrest to be at my door within minutes of nightfall.

I spritz on just a little Lauren (one of my few splurges) because I know how sensitive a vampires sense of smell is and go to sit on the front porch to wait. I'm not surprised when he pulls up a mere thirty minutes later in a beautifully kept dark blue roadster. It's antique for sure but being less than mechanically inclined I can't begin to guess what year it's from.

I stand on shaky legs as he steps out of the car, dressed in a light gray suit wearing a hat as usual. He looks like an old timey gangster to me and I can't say that I don't like the result; all that's missing is a Tommy gun. I can feel him looking me up and down as he walks up the porch steps to greet me.

"Forrest," I say as I extend my hand. He takes it and plants a gentle, cold kiss on it just like the men on TCM always do when they greet a woman.

"Miss Sookie, you look beautiful," he rasps, almost as if it's painful for him to say. He takes my arm and leads me down the steps to the car. I'm pleased as punch when he opens the door for me and holds my purse while I settle in. I look for a seat belt and find nothing. "This car hasn't had much updatin' I'm sorry to say, so there's no safety harness for you. But I vow that I'll get you back home safely if you can trust my word."

I can only nod and he closes the door gently and walks slowly to the other side. I wonder if he walks that way because he's trying so hard to appear human or if that's just his natural gait. Then it occurs to me that maybe he doesn't know that I know he's a vampire. I panic for a second; maybe this is a much worse idea than I even thought. New girl in town has accepted a date that no one else knows she's going on with a man that apparently no one here even realizes is a card carrying member of the undead. I swallow hard and can feel the fake, taut smile start to grow on my face.

"So, where are we headed this evening?" I ask, doing my best to calm the trembling that's making me vibrate inside and out.

"I'd like to take you up into Gatlinburg if that's okay. A restaurant called the Greenbrier. Have you been?"

"I have not," I manage to say.

A restaurant when I know he can't eat? My nerves start to get the better of me and I actually think about jumping out of the car before he starts to back down the hill.

"Well good, it'll be a first for us both," he almost growls as he starts the engine and slowly begins backing down the hill.

The ride to Gatlinburg is down a winding road through small towns like Cosby and English Creek. Roadside markets, Mom and Pop restaurants and souvenir stands crowd the roadsides in clusters; some charming, some playing insultingly into the whole ignorant hillbilly misconception. I say insultingly but I guess the "ignorant hillbillies" are getting the last laugh because the tourists pay top dollar for things like hillbilly flashlights (a mousetrap holding a wooden match), hillbilly woman getters ( a tree branch branded as such), and coffee mugs shaped like moonshine stills.

I can't bring myself to start a conversation with him and it seems that he is not anxious to talk to me either. There is a silence that is disturbed only by the sound of the motor and the occasional chorus of a frog colony as we pass.

The night air is cool and I lean back into the seat and close my eyes. I can feel him looking at me but I am afraid if I look back my nervousness will be plain to see. I breathe deeply and smell the moss, decaying leaves and clean mountain water from the creek that runs adjacent to the road. I can't help but smile; the night has endeared itself to me since I moved to Tennessee. Instead of dreading it I look forward to it. The night is different in the mountains, less frightening, almost cleansing. Gone is the always muggy, heavy atmosphere of swamplands and mosquitoes the size of cats.

She looks like she belongs over there.

My breath sticks in my throat. Only a handful of times have I been able to hear a vampire's thoughts and even then it was broken and fuzzy. Forrest's thought came through crystal clear and the fear of hearing it, let alone the intent of what he thought just about makes me pass out with surprise and fear.

"Everything okay?" He says and reaches over to touch my shoulder. It's all I can do not to sink into the door, to recoil from his hand. I look at his face and there is genuine concern there it seems.

"I'm okay. Just had a bug fly into my shoulder and it startled me, that's all," I lie like a champion.

"We're almost there," he says and smiles at me for the first time.

His smile does something to me. I'm sure somehow that a lot of people don't get graced with the beauty of it. Something is happening inside of me and I am powerless to stop it. I feel myself leaning in closer to get a better look at him. His smile starts to falter the closer I get and my reaction is to grin widely back at him. I laugh and suddenly all the fear I was feeling is gone.

There is no deception in him, no deep game to advance or to betray. I see him, the essential him in that smile that plays across his mouth and reaches up to shine through his eyes. Genuine, a little unsure, rusty from lack of use; it tells a story about him and it's a story that I want to hear more of.

"So tell me, what kinds of food do you like Forrest?" I tease, wondering when he will finally be comfortable enough to tell me the truth.

"Ain't nothing better to me than a steak," he answers immediately and I turn to him with my eyebrow raised. I can't hide my incredulity at the ease of his lie even though it's only been a minute since I did the same thing.

"Well I know it ain't good to eat too much of it but I do consider this a special occasion."

I'm puzzled because I can't hear the deception in his voice. I KNOW he's a vampire and vampires cannot eat. I smile and lean back into the seat. This is going to be a strange night indeed.


	7. Chapter 7

Forrest walks a little faster to the table so he can pull my chair out for me. I smile without looking at him. Now that we're at the restaurant I'm feeling a little intimidated again; there's no roadside scenery to use as a distraction, no loud engine to blame a lack of conversation on. I immediately grab the menu from the hostess and bury my face in it.

Mountain Trout $16.95… Shrimp $17.95… Surf & Turf $Price Varies$...

"Miss?" someone asks with more than a little impatience and I hear Forrest give a short growl. I look up from my menu and see a young man who is probably the waiter and Forrest giving the waiter a bad case of stink eye.

"I'm sorry… what did you say?" I manage to stutter as I look at the young man who has now realized that a very intimidating Forrest is not pleased with how he spoke to me.

"Um, drink? What would you like to drink?" the waiter, who I now realize is named Greg, asks nervously as he fidgets with the clicker on his pen.

"Sweet tea with lemon please," I say and smile, hoping to calm down the irritated vampire across from me who is squinting with displeasure at the fleeing figure of our server. I'm not shocked with a young girl named Candy comes back with my tea and an ice water for him and announces that she will be taking care of us instead Greg.

I order the Pasta Alfredo because it's one of the less expensive items on the menu and Forrest orders the New York Strip, rare of course. I nervously hand the menu to Candy who is far too busy giving Forrest some good old "fuck me" eyes to pay any attention to me. A small urge to kick her in her skinny, little-girl ankles crosses my mind but I successfully refrain. I'm looking all around at the interior of the restaurant which is an 1930's era log cabin when I hear my date clear his throat. Oh boy…

"Sookie, is there something wrong?" he asks with slight exasperation in his voice. Oh no, the words are coming, words that I don't want to say but the invisible barrier between common sense and verbal diarrhea is about to break…

"I'm nervous to be here with you, nervous about your intentions, wondering why you asked me out, feeling sorry for Greg the waiter because I made you mad at him because I wasn't paying attention and I know something and I don't think you know that I know but I do and it's like a great big elephant in the room that is taking up waaaaaay too much space for me to be comfortable…" I could go on and on but I see him raise his hand at me and it's as effective as if he had thrown a bucket of cold water on me. Say anything you want about this man but he commands attention and respect with minimal effort.

"Ma'am, I'm not gonna bite."

"Really?" I sputter before I realize he was being metaphorical and not literal. Now it's his turn to raise his eyebrow at me. I try to laugh it off like I was being funny but I'm pretty sure I just let the cat out of the bag.

"I promise," he rasps and leans forward, staring at me intently across the table, "There something you wanna tell me, Sookie?"

"No sir," I mumble. I want to look away but I can't because I am seeing his eyes clearly for the first time. He's taken his hat off and the lighting is good enough that I can see the deep blue-green color. My eyes drift lower to his mouth; he's chewing on his bottom lip absently as he stares back at me. I feel a most indecent ache in my center as his eyes drink me in. He's sizing me up, trying to figure me out as much as I am puzzling over him. He blinds me with his smile again and I truly see how much it shows in his eyes. He sits back in his seat, never breaking eye contact with me.

"You're something else…"he says and I start to interrupt but he silences me with an upheld finger, "I'm good at reading people, always have been, but I can't get a fix on you. Just when I think I have you figured out you throw another wrench in the cogs."

I don't know what I am about to say but I'm thankful I don't have the chance to let it out before Candy brings a basket of cheese biscuits to the table. I'm really too upset to eat but having food in my mouth means I don't have to talk. The way he's watching me chew isn't making me feel any more at ease.

I chew slow enough that I still haven't said a word when the entrée's arrive. I look at the gargantuan bowl before me and am thankful for the amount. This will buy me plenty of reasons to be silent. I know I'm being crazy awkward but I'm pretty sure at this point he's discovered that I am a candidate for the loony bin. I expect that Forrest will come up with some reason to save his steak for later and am shocked when he digs in voraciously. I know I'm staring at him with my mouth hanging open but I can't help it. He's eating…

He turns his head a little sideways and gives me a quizzical look and I drop my eyes to my dinner. We don't say another word to each other until he asks me if I would like dessert.

"I couldn't possibly eat another bite but thank you."

I feel like I'm about to cry and I can't figure out the reason behind it. Damn it, the tears are threatening to overflow the dams of my lower lids and I can't stop them.

"Sookie," he says and in an instant he's beside me, holding my hand. "Please don't cry, I am sincerely sorry if I upset you in some way…"

I hold up my hand in protest, trying to communicate that it's not his fault. I know if I say one word it's only going to make me cry harder.

Forrest leaves the table and I can see him talking to the waitress, handing her a handful of bills. He comes back to the table and grabs me gently by the elbow, handing me my purse.

"Come, there's somewhere else I want to take you."

A short while later and we're in an extremely large parking lot atop a mountain. The view of the valley below is breathtaking. Forrest opens the rear hatch and pulls a blanket out to spread across the hood. As he opens the door for me he offers his hand and I take it. He wraps his coat around me when he sees me shiver and helps me onto the hood of the Roadster. We sit in a more comfortable silence for a while and then he speaks, revealing himself as closer to me than I had thought.

"This is Clingman's Dome, well the parking lot for it anyway. You have to walk to the actual Dome and I don't think you good shoes for that on," he drawls and scoots a little closer to me. "I don't think I need to tell you that there is something different about me do I?"

"No," I practically whisper, "you don't."

"And you knew this before I asked you out didn't you?"

"Yes."

"So I can assume that you don't really have a problem with that?"

"No."

"I come up here a lot, to think, to clear my head so I don't have to think. I came up here after the first night I met you."

"Why?"

"Because you stirred something in me that I haven't felt in a long time," he whispers very close to my ear and then scoots down off of the hood to come stand directly in front of me. "May I kiss you?"

I don't hesitate for a second before I nod. He leans in slowly and I have a wonderful moonlit view of his lips slowly forming into a pucker. They're even softer than I had imagined they would be as they gently brush mine. I almost whine out loud when he breaks contact. It's too quick, too fleeting and I mourn the loss of them instantly. I'm acting on sheer instinct as I reach out and grab his shoulder and pull him to me again, crushing my mouth against his. He kisses me back ferociously, grabbing the sides of my face with his hands, cradling my jaws, caressing my ears and neck with his fingers. I'm instantly breathless and drenched. And then he pulls away, leaving me panting.

"I'd best get you home."


	8. Chapter 8

I'm speechless which almost never happens to me. First he wants to kiss me and when I kiss him back he freezes and wants to take me home. What the hell is going on with this guy? I can't help but stare at him; I'm dumbfounded and getting angrier by the second. He holds his hand out to me and I cross my arms, shake my head no. He thrusts his hand at me again; I buck up like a prize mule and shake my head no even harder.

"Come on now, let's go," he mutters, refusing to meet my glare.

"Absolutely not," I seethe through gritted teeth. This gets his attention and now it's his turn to be dumbfounded. "You ain't my man and you sure as hell ain't my daddy so I don't see where you get off insisting on what's best for me or telling me what to do."

"Girl I don't know what crossed the wires in your head but trust me when I tell you that I ain't one you wanna tangle with. Now come down off the hood of my car and let's get headed back to Cocke County."

He motions at me impatiently again and it's the final straw.

"Screw you and your car, asshole," I scream and like a shot I'm off the hood, headed through the parking lot. Sure it's more than a 40 mile walk home but I would much rather take my chances going down this mountain in sandals at this point.

"Come back here right now," he growls from behind me but I ignore him and keep walking. Then I walk right into the inhuman brick wall of him as he appears in front of me out of nowhere. He picks me up like I'm nothing but a rag doll and the next thing I know I'm up against a tree and his mouth is assaulting mine, his cold hands are on the sides of my face again and his tongue parts my lips and tangles with mine. I press into him, desperate to position my body as close to his in as many ways as possible.

"Is this what you want girl? Because I was trying to be a gentleman, trying to do right by you, trying to get you home without ripping that dress off of you and having my way with you until the sun came up," he growls as his left hand slides all the way down the right side of my body. "Believe me; I don't want to take you home. I've wanted to devour you since the moment I laid eyes on you."

His lips make their way down my chin and he starts kissing and licking my neck; it's almost like he knows exactly what to do to turn me on the most and I can't stifle the moan that comes out of my mouth.

"See, you keep making sounds like that and I'll take you here and now, right against this tree."

I can feel his fingers searching for the hem of my dress and while my body is screaming for him to do whatever he wants my mind knows that this just isn't right. I don't really know this man; I'm not the kind of girl that gives it up to just anyone.

"What is it about you?" he moans into my neck and I feel his length press into my hip. "Why can't I stop thinking about you?"

I know why; well at least I think I do and this knowledge is like cold water in my veins.

"Forrest…"

"Why can't I get close enough to you?"

"You want to bite me, drink my blood,right?"

I feel him pull away and I look up to meet his gaze. The look he gives me leaves me just as puzzled as he seems to be.

"No. Why would you say that?"

"Oh cut the bullcrap Forrest. I know you're a vampire, I knew it from the minute I laid eyes on you. You even got me to admit it. You find me irresistible because of my blood. I'm part…" I can't bring myself to tell him that I have fairy blood yet, "There is something special about my blood that makes me more attractive to vampires."

"Hol… hold on a minute," he says, backing away from me. "Let's just back up a second. Yes, I am a vampire, sort of," he says as if the word vampire leaves a bad taste in his mouth, "But I do not want to drink your blood nor would I ever do that to you. No, drinking your blood is not what I was trying to avoid doing to you…"

"You don't want to drink my blood… hey wait a second, what the hell is wrong with my blood? Am I not good enough for you or something?"

"I'm sure you're perfectly delicious Sookie but I would never do that to you."

"And what do you mean that you're sort of a vampire? I don't understand."

A car is coming into the parking lot and its lights shine near where we stand underneath a tall maple tree. Forrest takes my hand and leads me back to the car and this time I don't protest as he opens the door for me. He settles in to the driver's seat and turns to look at me.

"Just how do you know so much about vampires?"

"I asked you a question that you haven't answered yet," I say, crossing my arms again. Forrest lets out a low, grumbling, growl and I can see the deep furrows in his forehead. I don't think he's used to dealing with a stubborn woman like me.

"I was not turned in the way that what you might consider a normal vampire is, no one bit me, no one made me drink their blood and I wasn't put to ground for three days."

"Then how were you turned?"

"By a medicine man, beyond that it's a long drawn out story. Yes I can and have drunk blood in the past. I don't have to have it to survive and as you can see I can eat food without any consequences. I have not changed in all the years since Papa Manny did his spellwork over me all those years ago. Am I immortal? I don't know the answer to that. I know I don't get sick but sunlight burns me; that's how Howard got his scars. Jack and Howard are different, they can't eat food and they crave blood. They drink the synthetic along with trespassers who sometimes stumble across our still. Now answer me, how do you know so much about vampires? And why would you think that I would bite you and drink from you."

I sigh deeply; do I want to reveal the ugly truth about why I came here to Tennessee? Can I afford to lay those emotional scars bare?

"I was in love with a vampire, a very powerful vampire. Beyond that it's a long and sordid story. I came here to East Tennessee to get away from him and his memory, to start over. The last thing I wanted to do was get involved with another vampire." I look up from my hands that had been twisting the bottom of my sweater into a misshapen mess; he's staring intently at me.

"This vampire drank from you?" I can hear the vehemence in his voice, his anger puzzles me, "He just used you like a human vending machine, taking from you whenever he pleased? Why would someone who claimed you loved do such a thing?"

"You really don't know? Forrest, it wasn't like I didn't… want him to."

"You wanted this man to bite you…" he said, it wasn't quite NOT a question.

"Well not all the time, but on certain occasions, when the time and mood was right, I… well I liked it as much as he did."

"What occasion… oh," he stammers as he comes to the correct conclusion. "It was pleasurable for him to bite you."

"Yes."

"Why did you seem so mad at me when you thought that's what I wanted?"

"I wasn't mad about that, I was frustrated because I thought you were only attracted to me because of the… lure of my blood."

"Yeah, about that, what is it that makes your blood different?"

"Honey, that's a story for another time. You might find it hard to believe."

I look back at him and he has that smile again, the one that spreads from ear to ear and lights up his face.

"What?" I ask, trying hard not to smile back at him. He's infectious.

"You want to see me again," he laughs in his own rusty sounding way, "and you called me honey."

I playfully punch him in the shoulder; he gasps and feigns injury. This night has been an emotional roller coaster ride and I'm glad that we seem to be on good terms again.

"Of course I want to see you again," I half whisper. Something takes control of my mouth and I blurt out some desperately dangerous truth. "I haven't been able to stop thinking about you either, you know."

He hooks his finger under my chin and lifts my face up. He's leaning in for another kiss and I am already shivering with excitement. His lips are heaven on mine; he takes his time and floors me with the softest, most tender kiss I have ever had. I feel it in my toes and in some other places that aren't to be spoken about in polite company. He takes his time and just when I feel like I might pass out from the pleasure of it all he pulls his face just a few inches away from mine.

"Sookie, Sookie, Sookie… what am I going to do about you. I don't want to rush this because I'm afraid of messing it up. You scare me and intrigue me all at the same time. I want to know everything about you," he whispers and leans in, brushing his mouth against mine again. "Promise to give me a chance, don't run away from me. Let me do this right."

"I won't run…" I whisper back and he starts to lean in again. "But I have something to admit and you'd better not laugh at me."

"I would never…"

"If I don't find a port a potty or a tree I am going to flood your car. I drank a LOT of sweet tea at the restaurant."

His laugh is hysterical; it starts from his toes and booms out of his chest, echoing through the dark of the night.

"You'd never huh?" I say and can't help but to laugh with him. "I'm just going to go find a tree, I really don't think I can make it back to civilization. I hope you won't think less of me."

He points his finger at himself and says, "Country boy, you won't shock or offend me in the slightest."

I slip into the small grove of trees at the corner of the parking lot until I am completely out of view. Relief is spelled P-E-E tonight people. I hang out a few seconds longer to air dry and then get myself situated. I head back to the car, smiling to myself. I feel like things might be ok for the first time in a long time.

"So where to now?" I ask as I slip back into the passenger's seat. I'm not ready to go home, not ready to give up his company yet.

"I'll leave that up to you," he smirks at me sideways. "Oh and someone named Eric Northman called your phone. I answered and told him you would get back to him after our date was over or perhaps tomorrow."

Oh shit, I guess I'm not psychic after all.


	9. Chapter 9

Eric's POV

If you've ever wondered if it's possible to throw an iPhone straight through a wall and inadvertently kill someone, I'm here to let you know that it's most definitely possible.

After having spent much of my trip back to Shreveport with Pam going over business, I had decided to call Sookie again, to ask her to meet with me. I have missed her greatly and having to face my Queen/wife these past few months on a daily basis has done nothing to quell my desire for the human I love. If anything it's made me love her more. She refuses to speak with me, believes that I should have and could have refused to marry the Freyda, the Queen of Oklahoma. I can't make her understand that there was no way to refuse to honor the contract my maker created and survive; she also refuses to see that she would have been in mortal danger as well.

I would never have chosen to associate with Freyda on the basest of levels, let alone marry She bores the fuck out of me and chases me incessantly. I could not even properly consummate the marriage. There was penetration but the coldness of her dead flesh surrounding my cock soon ended any chance of completion. Still, technically I did my duty for at least one years' time; I am not obligated to try again anytime soon. That didn't stop that silly bitch from embarrassing herself with many unsuccessful, wanton displays that ended in a physical brawl every time. I want only one woman; a living, breathing, warm, fairy descendant. There is no one else for me.

So I found any reason to leave Oklahoma for a while, citing a need to return to Louisiana for business purposes. Since Freyda is my wife, not my captor, she cannot refuse me. I couldn't leave fast enough. Of course my first stop was a certain two story farmhouse in Bon Temps; I'd sat in the shadows and watched for any sign of movement inside for almost a whole night but I knew she was no longer there and that she wasn't coming back. I tracked her brother Jason down and glamored her new phone number from him and called her immediately. The sound of her breathing was a balm to my aching need for her but she refused me again and hung up.

That was two nights and I'd decided to call her again, anxious to just hear her voice even if it was telling me to fuck off. A man had answered and insinuated that he was on a date, A FUCKING DATE, with MY lover. That is how you end up with a dead club-goer with an iPhone firmly implanted into his skull in the trunk of your child's car headed to a swamp in the middle of nowhere while said child is back at your establishment erasing the memory of the unfortunate incident out of a few dozen brains. Pam is going to fucking kill me.

I pull up to the edge of the murky water and start tossing in marshmallows. It's a trick that isn't widely known but alligators love them and it stimulates their appetite for other things, like dead Goths with head wounds. As soon as I see the white shapes disappear from the surface of the water I open the trunk and pull the body from the tarp. The iPhone makes a wet sucking sound as I dislodge it from his head. The screen is cracked but I still have service. I wipe the brain matter off as best I can and pocket the device.

"So sorry, you unfortunate bastard," I say as I peer down in to his open, unseeing eyes. I toss him into the water, watching as nature's crime cleaners do their work with amazing efficiency. I'm really not sorry at all; in fact I feel like going somewhere densely populated and taking out a mass number of blood bags. I feel like drinking, slaking my thirst until there is not a single beating heart left, and going berserk like I once did as a human. I resist only because I don't need to draw any attention to myself if I want to get out of Louisiana and up to Tennessee unnoticed.

That's where this is headed; I mean to reclaim what is mine, Freyda be damned. Plenty of other Kings have lovers on the side; even having a human concubine isn't unheard of. I know Freyda keeps a pet for feeding upon among other things. She will be furious to find out that I have gathered Sookie to my side. I really don't fucking care what Freyda thinks.

My phone rings and I know it's Pam even though I can't see the caller ID anymore.

"Ja, mitt barn." (Yes, my child)

"Jag har städat upp efter dig, Eric."(I've cleaned up your mess, Eric.)

"Tack, kommer jag belöna dig, det vet du." (Thank you, I will reward you, this you know.)

I hang up and floor the Mercedes. I need to get to my old home outside Shreveport and rest. As soon as the sun sets I will head to Tennessee to claim what is mine. I might not be able to convince Sookie to see things my way on the phone but she can't deny me anything when it is our bodies doing the communicating. Remembering the way she moaned and clawed at my back as I pushed myself deeply inside of her causes a rise in the front of my pants. I can't think about her without this happening. She is the only one who can make me hard, she's the only one I want to fuck, make love to, come inside of...

I'm pulling into the driveway of my house and it's hard to think about going inside. The last days that I spent here were some of the last times I remember being happy. As I walk through the garage into the kitchen I remember the way that Sookie would run and jump into my arms whenever she came here. I see the couch where we sat and planned who would spend what night where just so that we could be together as much as possible. As I make my way to the basement where my light proof bedroom is I can barely look at the bed where I lay with her so many nights. The human tamed me and then turned away from me when she could not accept the situation I could not change.

I drag the comforter from the bed and lie in the floor. I can't rest in the place that should have been my marriage bed to Sookie Stackhouse. I'll find some way to convince her to come home with me. The situation won't be ideal by any means; she'll never accept being my mistress, she'll fight me every step of the way. I have to decide just how far I'm willing to go to make her see things my way; I have to decide if it really matters what she wants in the event that she doesn't come around to my way of thinking. Would I be willing to be her captor, to enslave her for no other reason than to end my torturous longing for her? I know the answer should be a resounding no, that I could never betray her like that, that I would swallow my loneliness rather than revoke her freedom. But I can't tell myself with any degree of certainty that I won't do that very thing. There shouldn't be such a war going on inside of me.

There are a million things that I must decide before I cross state lines and stand in front of her. There is only one thing I know for certain; I will find the fucker that dared squire my lover and I will rip him into pieces, I will obliterate him until there is nothing left. No one has ever been deader than this fucker and he doesn't even know it yet. My vengeance upon him will be the stuff of legends.

I can feel that the sun is breaching the horizon and my eyes begin to feel heavy, to close of their own accord. I hate this feeling of forced rest. I have never been able to fight it even though I always try; it's my nightly ritual of rebellion against my state of being. I have always felt that it made us less than the living in one regard; they can stay awake during the night for the most part if they choose. Day brings inescapable sleep for the undead like me.

Only one person has ever successfully roused me from day times hold; only one person loved me enough to risk her own life to save mine. And now I lay here considering taking her hostage against her will and bringing her back here to satisfy my own selfish wants. I am a vampire and my ruthlessness has never been more painfully obvious than in these last moments of awareness before day induced nothingness.


	10. Chapter 10

The date had ended with a simply beautiful kiss as Forrest bid me goodnight at my front door. Even with my desperate nervousness due to knowing that Eric now knew where I was and that I was dating again, the feel of his mouth on mine was breathtaking. I watched from the picture window as he backed the roadster out of the driveway and gave him a little wave before closing the drapes. Now I stand here listening as the sound of the antique engine roars away, giving him plenty of space before I do what I don't want to.

I know Eric won't answer me, he will refuse to hear me out because he's that fucking stubborn. I need to try and dissuade him anyway. My hands shake as I dial the number that will forever be seared into my memory. Two short rings and straight to voicemail, just as I figured.

"Eric, its Sookie. Well of course you know who this is, I mean who else would it be?" I'm rambling already so I stop and take a deep breath before continuing. "Listen, I know you're probably pissed right now and thinking of doing something really stupid but I'm asking you to respect my wishes. I don't want to see you; I don't want you coming here. I know you probably already know where I am but I'm telling you that I've started a new life here and I'm happy. I don't need you sweeping in here with your grandiose ideas, being all high-handed and making my life miserable again…"

I'm cut off as the voicemail reaches its allotted time limit. I hesitate but end up calling again to get everything off my chest.

"Furthermore," I continue without missing a beat, "You are a married man now and I'm not that kind of girl. I could never be the other woman and you know this about me. You are the one who made this choice for yourself, for us. Regardless of your reasons, you and I don't have ties anymore. So stay away… I mean it goddammit! Don't come here and ruin this for me! I'm not yours so you can't get all territorial anymore!" I'm screaming into the phone but I can't help it. I'd rather be angry than to cry over this again.

I end the call and feel more drained that I have in a while. With the whirlwind of a first date with Forrest that had so many ups and downs followed by being terrified of coming home and finding Eric Northman on my front porch somehow, I am a complete and utter mess. I need to talk to someone. Someone who might just understand… I pick up my phone again and scroll through my relatively short contact list. It only rings once and I can hear the sounds of closing in the background as my only friend here in Newport anwers.

"Hey Kelley, yeah sorry to bother you but I figured you'd be done with work by now. Listen, you think you could come over for a little while?"

Two hours and a half bottle of cotton candy vodka later, Kelley is sitting on my bed opposite me wearing a pair of my pajamas with her mouth hanging open.

"Shit," is all she can seem to mutter over and over.

"Yeah," is all I can seem to offer in reply.

"So I know who Eric Northman is."

Now it's my turn to be shocked.

"Yeah, a friend of mine back home sent me the calendar… Mr. January," she says and I nod. "Damn, chick, what was that like? She leans in closer and I can't help but laugh at the blatant improper curiosity. "I mean was it really as big as all the rumors say it is?"

"Well, yeah," I mutter, suppressing the urge to blush. "And while that was all well and good, it was his ass that really did it for me."

"OH MY FUCKING GOD!" she screams as she hurls a pillow at me. "But seriously, I can definitely see why you left. Who wants some bitch queen's leftovers? I think it was incredibly shitty for him to even think you'd be okay with being his chick on the side. Ain't no dick good enough to justify that as far as I'm concerned."

"Yeah, but you know, I don't think he even took the time to see it like that; I don't even know if he's even capable of seeing things from my point of view. He probably looked at it as a way to keep us together and that I would think that was the only thing that mattered. He's positively medieval in his thought process."

"Do you really think he'll show up here?" Kelley drawls as she sips on her drink, apparently un-phased by the idea.

"I hope we won't but I know deep down inside he will. I don't want to think about it, it scares me to think of seeing him again. I can't always control myself when I'm in the same room with him. He does something to me, he has this way of giving me a look and it's like I would kill myself trying to please him."

"What about Forrest?"

"Ahh, Forrest. What can I say? There's something about him that just draws me to him. He's as easy as Eric is complicated. I don't think there's any deception to him, I don't believe that he has any political aspirations or is in any danger of getting scooped up by some horrible vampire monarch. I think I could very easily fall for him. He has this way about him and this smile that makes a person melt. It's like I would do anything I had to just to see it again. He's so unlike anyone I have ever known, he's much more my speed than anyone else I have ever dated."

"Sounds to me like you already have fallen for him, at least a little bit," Kelley says as she downs the last of her vodka drink.

"Maybe," I half whisper just as I sense an empty "space" outside of my bedroom window. Time to switch up the conversation before I reveal too much to whomever is eavesdropping outside my window, "So anyway, what do you say we camp out in the living room? I have every single Twilight movie…"

"Jesus, I thought you were my friend! I hate that twat Edward and that girl who can't seem to close her mouth. Don't you have anything violent?"

We spend the next couple of hours watching some UFC fights that Jason had recorded for me and sent along with some mail that managed to find its way around being forwarded. Luckily for us we don't work the lunch shift today because the sun is already on the horizon as I feel myself getting sleepy. Just before I drift off I hear Eric through some remnant of the bond. It could be my imagination but I really don't think so, it's just the same as it was before I had Amelia break the bond with her witchy magic.

Sookie, I'll find a way to make things work. I'll be there soon, my lover. Soon.


	11. Chapter 11

It wasn't easy to get through tonight's shift but somehow I managed. Kelley had it much worse than me since she drank way more than I did last night. But then again, she wasn't worried about Eric Northman showing up and turning her life upside down again.

I knew Forrest would be waiting outside for me as sure as I knew that it would get dark when the sun went down. I knew he would take his hat off when he saw me walking towards him and I knew he would kiss my hand as soon as I was within arm's reach. What shocks me is exactly how pleased I am to see him even though I will have to tell him that we can't see each other for a while.

"Hello Sookie," he drawls and pulls me into a sweet embrace. I can't help but to sigh into his shirt and breathe him in.

"Hello Forrest."

I can feel him smiling as he kisses the top of my head. I know he's not going to make this easy for me. I have been thinking about what is right and I feel like I should protect him from Eric at all costs. The only way I can see doing that is to stay away from him, at least for now.

"What's weighing on your mind, girl?" he asks as he pushes me away to look into my eyes. "I can tell you got something to say to me."

"I can't see you anymore, Forrest. At least not right now. I have big trouble headed this way and it's better for you if you don't get involved."

"Now Sookie, when I told you that I wanted to see you I didn't mean that I was only in it for the good times, I meant for all times, even the bad."

"I know, and I appreciate that but you have no idea what I mean when I say big trouble…"

"I'm sure you mean that vampire you dated back in Louisiana," I can only stare at him, slack jawed, "and I'm sure that he don't scare me nor am I worried about what kind of trouble he's bringing with him. I'm a Bondurant and there's never been a Bondurant that was yellow or ran at the first sign of trouble."

"I am not by any means implying that you're a chicken Forrest, but you don't know this guy. He's over a thousand years old and even though he's married off to someone else now he feels possessive of me. He's as much as made it clear that he's coming here to 'claim' me and that I still belong to him. All I can do is to try to talk some sense into him, to appeal to the part of him that I know loves me or at least did at one time."

"Sounds to me like you need me more than ever. Listen, where I live, it's well hidden way back in the woods. There are safeguards in place, things to let us know when someone comes around that isn't supposed to be there," I start to protest and he silences me with his upraised hand, "It don't mean I expect anything from you and I know you catch my drift, it just means that we have an extra room for someone who needs protecting."

He is starting to make a lot of sense but I'm not ready to give in and accept just yet.

"How will your brothers feel about this?" I ask as I look at my hands, unable to meet his intense gaze. There's too much heat there and I feel like he could burn me through and through.

"Never you mind those knuckleheads, they'd be as happy as pigs in muck just to get to look at you."

"Before I even think about saying yes, there are things that you need to know. It's not a short story so why don't we get out of this parking lot and go back to my house. I have some lemon meringue pie and some coffee, if you'd like."

"Lemon meringue pie is one of my favorites," he smiles and takes my hand. I give him the keys to my car because I'm too shaken to drive. I don't want to tell him all these things I am about to but I don't see any way around it.

The drive to my house is too quick; I haven't had enough time to muster the courage I need. I watch Forrest as I open the locks and invite him into my home. I'm not sure that with him that an invitation is even necessary; there are so many things about him that don't follow the norm. He looks around as if he's taking inventory, breathing in deeply as he walks about the living room. I start to feel a little self-conscious.

"So this is home, I'm renting it from the Mantooth's. Their family lived in it for generations, up until the matriarch died and most of them moved to other states…" I'm rambling as I start a pot of coffee and look for the cute paper dessert plates I picked up from Hallmark on clearance.

"I knew Vandell, the father of them all. He was a ridge runner for us when we moved here from Virginia. The matriarch was Elizabeth but everyone called her Lib."

"Ridge runner?"

"A man who runs moonshine for other people and takes a cut of the profits. He ran for us for a while until we got to know our customers. Lib made him quit after his best friend got killed doing a run for us."

I want to ask how he's managed to stay in business and under the radar for so many years but I can't find the words. I can't help but to steal glances at him, mainly his mouth, and remember that kiss.

"You take cream or sugar with your coffee?"

"No ma'am," he answers and I jump from the closeness of his voice. "Sookie, I can't stop thinking about that kiss, about how it felt to hold you."

I nod like I'm mute and for all intents and purposes I am. I can feel something radiating from him, something enveloping me like a blanket. Not body heat since he has none to speak of but something else, something magnetic that is pulling me towards him.

"I'd like to kiss you again, if I may," he says taking off his hat and laying it on my kitchen table. I nod again and it's exquisite suffering as I watch his lips slowly descend towards mine, so full and lush. I have never been one to keep my eyes open during a kiss but I can't tear my eyes away from his puckered mouth, the anticipation like a knife in my chest.

Once his lips touch mine it's like a wildfire of emotion, I can't resist tangling my fingers in his hair and pressing my face closer into his. I would gladly die in this moment; his kiss does that much to me. I shudder and sigh as I feel his tongue pry my lips apart and start to tangle with mine, I can feel myself become instantly drenched and I pull back. There's too much that needs to be said so that Forrest can make an informed decision about staying connected with me in any capacity.

He reaches and grabs the sides of my face and pulls me back to him, I don't resist. He grabs my waist and sits me up on the table, settling between my legs to get closer to me. He seems satisfied just to kiss me but I can feel his length pushing against me in an achingly good way. He presses just slightly forward and hits me in just the right spot and I can't suppress the moan.

"I could eat you like that pie you promised me," he growls and I moan again. The thought of his face buried between my thighs brings on a new tide of arousal, I know he can tell. His finger finds the spot where I've soaked through my work shorts and rubs. "Is this okay?"

I nod with my eyes closed and he lays me back slowly on the table top. I'm mindless with excitement and don't think to protest when I feel him unbuttoning my shorts. I lift my hips as he works to slide them down along with my underwear. The air in the kitchen feels cold against my drenched center. I can't bear to look at him but my eyes pop open when I feel his tongue flick quickly against my core. I gasp and can't help but to jerk against his hands that are holding my thighs.

"Oh my god!" I gasp as he does it again. He growls his approval and licks me again… and again. It doesn't take me long to reach a panting, breathless conclusion. It's a good thing that he doesn't need to breathe because I find my knees locked onto the sides of his face as my body spasms endlessly. I can't stop smiling; it's been too long since I had something to put into the old orgasm jar.

Forrest takes his time, cleaning every last part of me then slowly licking and kissing his way up my stomach, pushing my shirt and bra up and settling on my breasts. I stare in awe as his tongue makes lazy circles around my nipples. They respond by stiffening into peaks that I do believe could cut glass. His cold breath lends to their hardness and so do the low erotic growls of satisfaction coming from his open mouth. His pupils are huge as he stares at me, I can no longer see any iris, I could get lost in the sensation he's giving me combined with the inky blackness of his eyes.

He moves to my neck and I silently will him to bite me, knowing it would bring another glorious, instantaneous release. He does not linger there; instead he moves to my mouth and leaves me breathless with another heated kiss. I can taste myself on his lips and this excites me more than I care to admit to myself. When he backs away I sit up and reach for his waistband but he shakes his head and steps back.

"I'm sorry, Sookie. That wasn't very considerate of me."

"Good lord Forrest, don't apologize! You didn't see me resisting did you?" I'm starting to feel a little weird. I've never had anyone feel sorry for giving me an orgasm before.

"I just want to take things slow but there's something about you that's making it damn near impossible to stick to my guns." He looks sheepish; I don't think he's really sorry, instead I think he's trying to be a gentleman after the fact. Right now I don't want a gentleman, I want to have him thrusting so hard inside of me that I can feel him in my stomach. I take a deep breath and try to stifle my inner harlot. He's right; we need to be talking, not fucking.

I stand up and put my shorts and panties to rights before I have time to be embarrassed.

"You ready for that pie?"


	12. Chapter 12

As we sit across my small kitchen table from each other there's a not totally awkward silence. The pie is gone and the coffee is lukewarm and I have yet to utter a single word about my situation to Forrest. How do I start? I can tell he's getting impatient but he's being ever the gentleman, waiting for me to find my words.

"So, you're not going to believe this but I'm a part-fae telepath whose ex-boyfriend was the Sheriff of Area Five in Louisiana and is now the king-consort of the Queen of Oklahoma," my words come out in a jumbled rush and he's so quiet that I start to wonder if he understood me at all.

"Telepath? Fae? I'm not sure I'm picking up what you're putting down. I mean, are you telling me that you can see the future?"

"No, not at all; psychics can see the future, I can only read people's minds."

"You can read my mind?"

Uh oh, here comes the beginning of the end. Should I lie to him and tell him no since it would only be a half-lie? I mean, I haven't steadily been able to read his thoughts; it was only that one time. How can I expect to build anything with him based on a lie from the very beginning?

"I did once, it was a shock to me too," I blurt as he looks at me, his eyebrow cocked. "You thought that I looked right at home in the passenger seat of your car on our first date." Our only date, I thought to myself. "Normally I can't read supe or vampire thoughts. So it was out of nowhere…"

"Well I would say that if there was one thought I've had about you, that was a safe one for you to listen in on," he laughs. Now it's my turn to raise my eyebrow at him. "I think about you a lot and most of my thoughts of you aren't to be spoken out loud in decent company. I think I proved that point tonight on top of your table here."

I blush and lower my eyes to my hands that are tightly wrapped around my coffee mug. 'I Love Bon Temps' it screams at me in blue block letters; a going away present from Sam.

"I really don't want it to be common knowledge here in Cocke County, what I can do. It made my life miserable back in Louisiana, for the first time in my life people treat me like just some ordinary Jane, no one looks at me funny here. No one is afraid of me here," I finish with a whisper.

"Sookie Stackhouse, you are anything but ordinary and someone would have to be a damned fool to think otherwise."

"Then let me surround myself with fools because I don't want to be Spooky Sookie ever again. I don't want to be used for my ability and then shunned because I did what people asked of me. You have no idea how horrible it feels for people to look at you like you're a monster because they know that you know every little bad thing they're thinking. Being a telepath means that most people can't hide the ugliness inside from you. That's a huge burden to carry around, let alone having to turn around and smile in people's faces. A least here no one realizes that I know their innermost thoughts and little transgressions. That's half of the battle right there."

Forrest leans over the table and takes my hands in his. I can feel his eyes on me and when I look up it feels like he's staring straight into my heart. When his skin touches mine it's like a power surge that travels throughout my entire body. I feel absolutely electrified.

"Your being special has nothing to do with your ability. It has everything to do with the way you light up a room whenever you're in it, the way people can't help but smile back at you; it has everything to do with the fact that I have never been so caught up with a woman in all of my existence."

I wanted to believe him but my heart was telling me that I knew the real reason he was so infatuated with me.

"Yeah, well I think the reason that you can't stop thinking about me is my fairy blood. It makes me extremely attractive to vampires. My blood is almost like an intoxicant for your kind. I'm a literal walking bonbon for the undead. Eric always told me how he craved my blood, how it tasted so different than anyone else he had ever drank from."

"Well ask yourself this, Sookie. If that were true, why haven't I bitten you yet?"

"Extreme self-control?" I venture to guess.

"Extreme self-control would have kept me from ripping your underthings off of that beautiful behind and mauling you like I did. I can't deny that you did taste delicious…" he smiles and licks his lips.

I slap him on the hand and try hard to hide my smile; that memory is going into the fantasy Rolodex for sure.

"My point, and take this as the gospel truth; I don't have a craving to drink your blood. There are other things about you that I crave and they are very indecent, but your blood isn't one of them. So I think that we can rule out any so called fairy connection as the cause. I think it's a matter of me finding you beautiful, a little mysterious, funny and intelligent. Aren't those all the right reasons for wanting to get to know someone better?"

He's so reasonable, as calm as I am frantic. His voice is soothing; I swear I could listen to his raspy tone reading a phone book and be completely blissed out.

"Well we still haven't talked about the ex who is most definitely on his way here…" I sigh deeply and begin the tedious task of telling the whole story about Eric and I, up to his wedding to the super jealous Queen of Oklahoma who forbade him to ever see me again. Forrest doesn't look pleased at all when I tell him word for word the last phone call I had with Eric.

"Ahh," he says and then growls deeply in his throat, "so this ex is married to someone else and yet thinks he has some claim on you still? Tell me Sookie, do you want to be with him?"

"No," I blurt, "I could never be the other woman. I won't lie and tell you that I don't care about him anymore. I do and I always will, we meant something to each other, well at least he meant something to me. But he wants things to be in a way that I can't agree with. I'm just worried because he's ruthless when it comes to getting what he wants, I'm afraid he will hurt you."

It takes a lot for me to admit this out loud and I know Forrest can sense that. He doesn't press the point but instead proves again what a gentleman he really is.

"Any man who says he loves you would never force that love on you. Any real man knows when to let go, when there's nothing left to work on. But then again I can't imagine trying to let you go…" his voice trails off and he looks out the kitchen window over the sink. "I want you to pack as much as you can. This vampire obviously does not have your best intentions at heart and I can't leave you here to face him alone. What would that say about me?"

"He'll find me no matter where I am. We've traded so much blood between us that we've got this weird bond. I'll never be able to run far enough, fast enough," just saying the truth out loud sets my heart to racing with fear. I watch Forrest's pupils dilate again as he picks up on the freight train in my chest.

"You're not running, you're finding higher ground, a stronghold. It's just good strategy. If this Queen of his is anywhere near as jealous as you say then he won't be able to stay here indefinitely, we only need to hide you until he has to head back to Oklahoma. I won't tell you that it's going to be easy to sleep in the same house as you and try to be a gentleman but I will promise you that I will behave. I only want to keep you safe."

"I believe you," I say as I am already mentally making a list of things to pack. Forrest Bondurant has just thrown me a lifeline and I'm not about to pass it up. He might be able to promise to behave himself but I don't know if I can do the same. What happened between us tonight woke up an appetite that I have been able to suppress for a while now. I don't think it's going to be so easy to keep my sexual voracity under wraps if I am in close quarters with the man that just gave me one of the most intense orgasms of my life. I'll never be able to look at my table the same way again, that's for sure.

"So please, pack. Bring whatever you need and if we forget anything I can send Howard or Jack to the Wal-Mart later. I'll call Sharon and make arrangements for you to miss some work. She'll understand…" his last words sound more ominous for Sharon than comforting for me but I try not to read too much into it.

I stand up and start to clear the table but his hand on mine stops me.

"Go, pack. I'll take care of this."

Could he be any more perfect?


	13. Chapter 13

According to Forrest, his home is way up in the mountains of Hartford, Tennessee which is quite a bumpy, long drive from where my house sits. He carries my things out to his roadster as I call Kelley.

"Hey chick, yeah I'm okay but I need you to do me a favor. Don't freak out ok? Okay, I need you to try and cover some of my shifts and ask Anita if she will as well. I have to hide out for a while and I won't be able to come to work. Yeah, Eric is most definitely on his way here. No, it's fine; I have a place to go… yeah Forrest has offered me a room. It's not like that, well not exactly. Hey, listen I don't have much time to talk right now. I'll call you as soon as I get settled. Love you too doll, bye."

"You all set?" Forrest calls from the front door. I take a look around like it's the last time I'll see this cute little house. For all I know it may well be. I sigh and grab my purse off the sofa. Forrest offers his hand as I cross the threshold and I don't hesitate in taking it. It feels right to have my hand enveloped in his as we walk to his car. He opens the door for me like always and holds my purse while I situate myself.

The drive to his homestead is every bit as long, dark, and bumpy as he had promised. I can't help but to feel a little carsick as we go speeding around yet another hairpin curve.

"Forrest, I don't want to sound whiny or ungrateful but could you maybe take these curves a tad bit slower. My stomach isn't feeling too good."

"I'm sorry, Sookie. I've never had any passengers besides my brothers with me on this road and I drive it like this out of habit." He pats my hand reassuringly and I lay my head on the open window frame of the door.

There's no doubt that Forrest is taking me here to care for me, there's also no doubt that I'm still antsy to put myself under the total control of a manpire (yeah, I don't really consider him a vampire since there are so many differences between him and the vampires I know) that I hardly know. Maybe this was the dumbest idea I have ever had or maybe it's my best shot at getting to know him better. Maybe I'm letting my vagina do my thinking since Forrest decided to see how many licks it takes to get to the center of a Sookie-pop. One, two, three…

We have about ten more minutes before reaching his road, according to Forrest, and I shiver from the temperature drop in the night air. We have been ascending for what seemed like forever and there is a distinct chill that was true to being in the higher elevations of the Smoky Mountains. I can sense the buzzy brain patterns of nocturnal wildlife all around us as he slowed the car to make the turn. We stop in front of a humongous iron gate and Forrest types a complicated combination into a keypad. The gate labors slowly to open, giving a sense of its true weight and size. I shiver again but this time it's not the cold that causes the reaction, it's the knowledge that Forrest has me in a very precarious predicament if he turns out to be less than the gentleman that I think he is.

"The fence surrounds the house and outbuildings on all sides; it's twelve feet high and topped with razor wire."

"Fat lot of good it will do if he finds me here, he can fly."

"Well we have other defenses in place," he says as he takes my hand. "UV sunlamps every five feet to flood the outside of the house with should someone of the vampire persuasion come at night, a state of the art Daylight Defense System that shutters the house completely during the day and in the event of an emergency; it's bomb-proof, fire-proof, and tank-proof."

"Wow, so have you had to use any of these defenses?" I wonder out loud as I ask myself in my head why they would need so many defenses way back here in the woods.

"We've used the UV lamps to cook a couple of snoopin' vampires; we use the DDS every day to make the house light-proof of course. Other than that, no, we haven't. But I'm a firm believer in preparing for the worst and now it seems that all my preparing has been for a reason."

We've pulled up to the front of a two story log cabin that is immense. I can see in the surrounding area that there are several smaller buildings and a larger one partially hidden in a grove of trees. Donuts to buttons that's where they make the moonshine, I'm thinking as Forrest opens the door for me.

"I want you to make yourself at home as much as you can. There is a big guest suite across the hall from mine. I called and had Jack make it up for you. I keep a well-stocked kitchen so please help yourself to anything you want. We have cable, every channel known to man, every gaming system since Pong because Howard and Jack have to do something other than just make moonshine. And please let me apologize in advance for the foul language I am sure you'll hear once they get to playing Call of Duty."

I can't help but to giggle at the thought of vampires playing Xbox. Eric never played anything and Bill didn't get any more gamer-like than Wii golf. Forrest stops in front of me and leans in, kissing me lightly on the lips and thrilling me like it was my first.

"I meant what I said; I don't expect anything from you. I would enjoy having dinner with you and spending time together if you'd like but I will never impose myself on you in any way. I hope you can take me for my word and trust in me. I only want to keep you safe."

I close my eyes and lay my head on his chest. "I do trust you, I don't know why or how but I do. So many times in the past I've been burned by that trust, still I can't help but to believe in you."

"The sun will be up soon sweetheart. Let's get you settled before we shutter up for the day, I know you have to be exhausted."

I can smell apple pie as soon as I step in the door. I hear a flurry of footsteps and I see Jack and Howard racing down the hallway towards Forrest and me. I take a step back as they skid comically to a halt.

Jack is wearing a white ruffled apron, something like you'd see on Donna Reed or Leave it to Beaver and Howard has made an attempt to comb out his birds nest of hair. I smile shyly at them and am relieved when they smile back.

"Welcome Miss Sookie," Jack says, "I'm baking an apple pie, I thought it'd be a nice way to say welcome. We don't get a lot… well ANY visitors and we're happy to have you here."

Howard smacks Jack in the back of the head, "Shut up moron and let her breathe before you start falling all over her."

"Jesus H. Howard, do you have to be such a dick?" Jack whispers roughly as he straightens out his hair and steps a few feet away from his older brother.

"Ya'll go and let the lady get settled for the day. She's tired and so am I. We can meet and greet tonight when everyone has had some rest." Forrest has his hand on my back and he's steering me towards some roughhewn log steps. As we ascend I take note of pictures of a large family, I can tell that they are very old and aged. I stop in front of one; it's a baby and I just know that it's Forrest. Even then, in his infancy, he had those lips.

"Yeah, that's me," he laughs, as if he can read my mind. "Ain't no denying it is there?"

"Not a chance," I giggle and head towards the upstairs landing. There is a long hallway to either side of the landing, Forrest turns towards the left and walks halfway down. He opens a door on the right hand side and motions for me to go in.

I'm shocked at the purely feminine look of the room. It reminds me of something out of an Audrey Hepburn movie. The rose decorated wallpaper matches the comforter exquisitely; the tint of the carpet accents the deep burgundy of the flowers. The French style lamps cast a low light that bathes the room in a moody glow. I take off my shoes and let my feet sink into the lush nap of the carpet and sigh.

I instinctively know that there is no way that Forrest, or even his apron wearing brother could have done this themselves. A decorator had been hired, perhaps? But I can't see them allowing anyone like that into the compound, let alone the house. Now is not the time to ask about it; Forrest was right when he said I was tired. I turn and look at my would-be protector; his face shows that his mind is far away from this room, his look is almost wistful. I give him a quick peck on the cheek and he smiles closed-mouthed at me.

"There's a bathroom right through there," he says, pointing to the left of the bed. "I think you'll like the tub. Goodnight, Sookie."

"Goodnight," I whisper as he turns to go. "Forrest? Thank you…" It's all I can manage; my gratitude is overwhelming in this moment.

He winks rather rakishly at me and leaves me by myself. I jump as the Daylight Defense System activates and starts to cover the windows. He must have sensed my fear because I hear his deep chuckle from across the hall.

The tub is every bit as amazing as he had hinted; I think I'll take a swim before I call it a day.


	14. Chapter 14

As tired as I am I can't seem to fall asleep. The bed is super comfortable; the sheets are extra soft and smell faintly of lilac. I can hear the faint sounds of birds calling through the DDS but sleep isn't going to come easy today.

I rub my freshly shaven legs across the silkiness of the sheets, luxuriating in the feel of them against my skin. I breathe in the scented pillow cases deeply. I think about going for another hot bath but then decide that running that humongous tub full of water again would be wasteful. I flop around in the bed like a brat, readjusting my pillows to no avail, flipping them repeatedly to feel the cool side against my cheek. I feel restless but not uneasy.

I can hear Forrest moving around in his room across the hall. I'm guessing that, like so many other things that are different about him, daylight doesn't have the same effect on him as normal vampires. Normal vampires! I snigger at the thought; what the hell is a normal vampire? I guess the proper terminology would be a traditional or typical vampire. I have the inescapable urge to creep across the hall and see what Forrest is doing.

I know that I would appear completely ridiculous to anyone who might see me. I'm like a character out of a Scooby Doo cartoon, hands pulled up to my chest, taking slow, long strides to avoid making too much noise. I pull open my door and am a little too pleased to see that his door is ajar slightly. I can faintly hear music and realize that he must be listening to something through headphones.

I slip quietly as possible across the hall and peer into his room. I should be ashamed of myself but I can't find it in me to be embarrassed. His room is nowhere near as decorated as mine but that's not to say that it's not nice in a much more masculine way. The walls are painted a solid dark green with dark cherry trim. His bed is smaller than the one I should be in right now but has huge, fluffy pillows accenting a dark blue comforter. It takes me a minute to find Forrest; he's situated in the back corner of the room. I can see his bare back, muscular, much more than I would have thought. His muscles undulate every time he lifts his arm with a very heavy dumb bell curled in his fist. I am completely mesmerized by the synchronized motions of his body. He's facing a large mirror that covers the back wall of his room completely and he's staring intensely at the floor instead of himself. I finally decide to feel bad about my completely inappropriate spying and turn to leave.

"You don't have to go," I hear him rasp over the sound coming out of his headphones. I'm so damned busted; fucking super vampire senses.

"I'm sorry; I really don't have an excuse…"

"Sookie, you're my guest and have full run of the house. Come on in, have a seat or grab a weight." He's smirking at me now and if I didn't feel so rotten about being a Peeping Tammy I might be a little put out by it.

"I could hear that you were still up and I was curious because the vampires I know would be dead to the world as soon as the sun was on the horizon."

"Yeah, I've heard that and that's pretty much how it is for Jack and Howard. I usually only sleep a couple hours a night and sometimes not at all. I just don't seem to require much down time. So I work out to pass the time, read quite a bit, swim in the pool in the basement."

Immediately two questions pop into my mind, "So when you work out it actually changes your body?" I blurt, following it up with "You have a POOL in your basement?" Could I sound like a bigger bumpkin?

"Yes, I can build and lose muscle; I also gain and lose weight. And here's another shocker, I still have to use the restroom. And to answer your second question, yes, we have a pool in the basement. Us boys grew up spending most of our time in various creeks, lakes and swimming holes, so when we built this house we all decided that we needed an indoor pool. We all still love the water."

My mind is racing, his body still has the ability to change, he still goes to the bathroom (eww, TMI), and he loves to swim in his basement pool.

"Wanna go for a swim now?" I ask before I realize that I have not brought a swimming suit with me.

"Yes," he says with a smile; a great big, irresistibly sexy smile.

"Oh shoot, I don't have a suit with me."

"You call yourself a country girl but your whining about a suit? Girls I grew up with knew that the only way to swim was to go skinny dippin'."

My southern pride is on the line and to be honest, I really don't care about a suit at this point. It's not like he hasn't seen most of me naked already.

"Should I grab the towel out of my bathroom?" I ask and raise my chin defiantly at him.

"Naw, we have plenty downstairs."

I smile at him and shimmy out of my sleep clothes, standing naked in front of him.

"Last one in the pool is a rotten egg," I call as I turn and run down the hall. I figure if I follow the stairs all the way down I should be able to find the pool by the smell of chlorine. I can hear him behind me as I giggle like a maniac and run for my life. I pass the main floor and wind around, taking the stairs down another level. Sure enough I can smell the chemicals as I take the final landing two stairs at a time. There is only one door at the bottom and I throw it open.

The pool covers almost the entire length of the basement and I can tell it's heated by the steam rising up out of the water. I hear Forrest closing in and I run and dive into the deep end of the pool just as he clears the door. I break the surface of the water and turn to look at him.

"Rotten egg…" is all I manage to get out as my eyes start to take him in. His clothes do an amazing job of masking the body beneath them. I would never have guessed that he would be as utterly massive and as muscular as he actually is. I do my best not to follow the well-defined gullies that meet his hip bones but my eyes betray me and track down, further south… yikes. What I see there is almost frightening in its size. Not that he's bigger than Eric is, just wider maybe? The thought of tackling that challenge sends a shot through me in all the right places and I blush as I notice that he sees me looking there.

Before I can say something completely awkward he takes three running strides and dives gracefully into the pool, slicing the water seamlessly. I shriek as I realize he's headed straight for me. I try to swim away but my playful panic has me out of sorts and I make no headway. He grabs me around the waist and thrusts me up and out of the water, throwing me gently into the deep end. I break the surface of the water laughing. I can't remember the last time I felt this carefree and fun.

He's circling me like a shark now and the feeling of him closing in on me is deliciously scary. It's the same feeling I would get on Halloween, going up to door begging for candy or the feeling of swinging too high, too fast on playground swings. I want him to catch me so I'm not making too much of an effort to get away. Suddenly he stops and lifts his head out of the water to look at me. He backs away slightly, just enough for me to notice.

"What's wrong?" I ask, it's hard for me to disguise the disappointment in my voice that our little game appears to be over.

"I promised you that I wouldn't take advantage of you, that I would be a gentleman and on my best behavior while you're here and yet here I am, ready to do the thing I swore I wouldn't."

I look down at my nudity, barely hidden beneath the aquamarine water and say much more demurely than I intend to, "Forrest, it's not taking advantage of me if I want it as badly as you do, maybe even more…"

I hardly have time to get the last word out before he's pressed against me, pulling me tight into him. His mouth covers mine and I am immediately lost in the feel, the taste of him. His hands are strong as they knead my back in time with the movement of his tongue.

"I don't think there's anything I wouldn't do to be next to you," he whispers in my ear, his voice ragged with desire.

"Don't stop…" is all I can manage to say as he takes me in his arms and swims me towards the shallow end of the pool. He leans me against the side, his hands on the pool gutter on either side of my head. I am enclosed entirely by him and close my eyes in anticipation of his next kiss; he doesn't leave me hanging.

His kiss is slower, more sensual as if that were even possible. There is no rushed feeling but there is no lack of passion either. I can feel that he's holding back for fear of hurting me but I wouldn't care if he did. I'm ready for the lovely suffering he can give me. He stops, breathing heavily and leans his forehead against mine. I do my best to look at him, to gage his mood.

"If you're not ready for this you'd better tell me now before we go any further, he says, looking at me right in my eyes.

"Shut up and keep kissing me."

He closes his eyes and smiles and I see something in his expression change. Some sort of tension is gone now that I have given him permission to take this all the way. The tension is his muscles eases and I feel his hands snake up from the small of my back to my shoulders and then the sides of my face, pulling me closer, kissing me deeper, harder.

He dips his head to my chest and takes my left nipple into his mouth. I can't help the moan that echoes throughout the basement. He takes his time before moving to the other side, I'm practically panting at this point.

"Not here…" he says, his mouth still on my breast, and picks me up in his arms like a child. I can only throw my head back and try to remember to breathe as he carries me back upstairs. The ascent is even quicker than the descent had been. Before I can blink he has us in the long hallway headed towards his room. He sidesteps my sleep clothes that are still in his doorway and kisses me deeply as I wrap my legs around his waist. He moans as I fight for dominance with my tongue, forcing his to retreat as I conquer, and the sound is one of complete surrender.

He lays me down gently on the bed and stands up to look at me; I can't tear my gaze away from his face. His look is intense, his brow furrowed as he seems to memorize every freckle on my body. He smiles when he sees my concern and stretches out next to me on the mattress in a very cat-like way. His broad body wouldn't lead you to think that he'd be so quick and flexible. He leans his head onto one hand as he angles to face me on his side. His hand tentatively reaches out and cups my breast. The chill from his lack of body temperature causes my nipple to harden immediately. I hold my breath as his fingers start to maneuver lower, tracing lazy lines down my stomach, around my belly button and then targeting my most sensitive erogenous zone. He's watching himself touch me as I watch his face. His expression is curious and still intense. I gasp as he zeroes in on my center, applying just the right amount of friction. I feel him slide down the bed and I close my eyes in anticipation.

His tongue finds the same spot quickly and just like that he's making love to me with his mouth. He uses his lips and tongue to tease me into a frenzy of gasps alternating with me holding my breath. I look down and see that he's watching my face. I can't look away; the movement of his jaw muscles as he works me closer to an orgasm is mesmerizing. He sucks my nub into his mouth and massages it with the tip of his tongue and it's all I need. I'm over the precipice into wave after wave of release. I don't ever want it to end.

I'm still shaking when he slides back up beside me. I reach over and take him into my hand and relish the sound that comes out of him.

"Tell me now if you don't really want to do this, Forrest," I tease him. He growls like a predator and positions himself over me. The weight of him is hanging down onto my still twitching sex.

He doesn't ask out loud but I nod anyway, knowing his silence is a request for permission one last time. I do the honors, reaching down to position him for what we're both panting for. I'm soaking wet with my release and from want. I feel him press in slightly and penetrate me. He stops to gauge my reaction and I nod again. He's so wide, he knows he needs to take this slow.

He presses again and I gasp as the realization of his size causes my eyes to fly open. He's trying so hard not to move too fast that a vein is popping out on his forehead.

"Forrest," I moan, "take me now…"

He surges forward and instantly I am filled by my lover. He stills and kisses me reverently.

"Sookie," he whispers, his voice soft and trembling.

Slowly he withdraws and pushes forward into me again. The feeling of him inside of me is intense, almost painful but not quite. I thrill at the sight of his huge arms hooking around my shoulders, holding me stationary while he slowly plunges in and out of me. I turn my head to the mirror wall and watch his ass move. It's an erotic show that is meant for my eyes only, oddly kinky and such a turn on.

I lift my hips to meet his thrusts, encouraging him to move a little faster, go a little deeper. My body has changed to accommodate every inch of him and I need to feel it like I need to breathe. I can feel his body tensing, I know he's close and so am I. I want nothing more than to reach that pinnacle with him so I hold my breath, trying to delay it until the right moment.

Forrest throws his head back and moans loudly, almost screaming. Seeing his face and feeling him pulse inside of me gives me my own happy minute of release. He kisses my neck, my face, my lips and I'm limp from exertion, my body like a ragdoll. He covers me with sweet kisses, saying my name quietly over and over again. I pull him into a hug and smile to myself as I feel him slip free of me. It's an instant feeling of loss that leaves me imagining the next time.

He doesn't say anything but picks me up with one arm while turning down the heavy comforter with the other. He lays me on my side and crawls in behind me, spooning me perfectly. I feel him reach for the lamp and soon the room is pitch-black. Just as I am drifting off to sleep I hear him mumble, "I'm sorry I couldn't keep my promise."

I smile drowsily, my brain fuzzy as I descend into much needed slumber.

"I'm not…"


	15. Chapter 15

I can hear the faint tapping on the door but I don't want to completely wake up. You see, I've been having this most wonderful dream about making love with Forrest and I think that if I don't wake completely then I can slide right back into the dream. I feel someone snuggle close to my back and remember that it was a dream based in reality. Forrest had made love to me last night and then I had fallen asleep in his bed. How awkward was this going to be? How could I have allowed myself to fall into bed with a man I barely knew?

The tapping is persistent but until Forrest says something I decide to feign sleep. I slept with him and it was glorious but probably a bad idea to say the least. I mean, there is no denying the instant attraction between us, he'd admitted it to me on our first and only date. I know myself well enough to know that it was bound to happen but I'd expected later rather than sooner. Then there is this whole debacle with Eric coming to Tennessee to "claim what is his" as he so succinctly put it. I shouldn't have complicated the matter with sex because I am still not completely over Eric. I still feel sorrow when I think about losing him to the Queen of Oklahoma. But seriously, he had a choice; he could have chosen to fight, to break the contract, to fight for us. But he didn't. So here I am in bed with another man, another vampire. I'm acting completely out of character and I may have made things worse for myself by spreading my legs. To be fair to Forrest, he was trying to be a gentleman, trying to save me from myself and I wantonly displayed my body and lured him to it. Now I feel the shame that I should have felt last night when I went creeping to his door like a slut.

"Jesus Jack, what do you waaaaant?" Forrest growls from behind me and I can't keep from jumping. I feel him snuggle closer and I smile, secretly pleased in the knowledge that he doesn't seem to feel awkward about what happened between us last night. As if he can read my mind he kisses my neck and whispers, "I'm glad to see you decided to stay here with me all day."

"I've been dead to the world; I couldn't have dragged my bones back across the hall if I'd wanted to," I whisper back.

I can feel his lips curl into a smile on my skin.

"So you didn't want to?"

"Forrest, I made those banana pecan pancakes you like and they're getting cold," Jack calls from the hallway.

"I'll be down shortly," the voice behind me says and the body behind me snuggles close again, denying the intentions of his promise to his brother. I move to get out of the bed and his arms are like a vice around me, denying me permission to leave. I hear Jack meander slowly down the hall after pausing outside of my door. I'm not sure if he knows I am in Forrest's bed or not. I realize I have been holding my breath.

"Forrest…"

"Five more minutes, you've made me so warm and I want to feel that for as long as I can."

His words hurt my heart. With all his differences it's easy to forget that for all intents and purposes, Forrest is dead. He has no body temperature of his own and mine has lent him some warmth that he likely hasn't felt in a while. As bad as I feel about letting myself down last night, acting like a whore instead of the lady my Gran raised me to be, I can't deny him.

"Five more minutes," I say with mock consternation, "But I'm starving and I won't be denied banana pecan pancakes."

He laughs and kisses my neck again. He keeps his hands on my stomach, never venturing anywhere dangerous and I am equal parts relieved and disappointed. I won't lie, my mind is agonizing over last night but my body is ready for a repeat performance.

I feel him pull away and get out of the bed. He walks to the doorway and retrieves my sleep clothes, bringing them to me along with a very sweet kiss. I'll see you downstairs he says as he pulls on a pair of worn sweat pants. I can't stop myself from ogling his well-defined ass and the way his back muscles flex while he bends and moves. He looks back and catches me, winks at me like a total cad and then walks out.

I feel almost boneless as I slide off the bed onto the floor. My body aches in all the right places, my abdomen tender and my legs still shaky even after several hours of deep sleep. It's the feeling you have after an intense work out or a long hike. Only a workout and a hike don't carry doubt and regret.

I stand and dress in last nights bed clothes and hike across the hall to the guest room. I pick a pair of denim shorts and a flowered button down shirt with a tank underneath. I slide on my tennis shoes and head downstairs to acquaint myself with the brothers of the man who had me moaning his name over and over last night. Oh shit, they had to have heard if they were even slightly aware. I can feel my face blush and I know it has to be neon red. Pam never hesitated to rib me every time she knew Eric and I had been intimate. I don't know if I am up for having Jack and Howards giving me that type of shit. I almost decide to hide in my room all night but the smell of breakfast is irresistible to my empty stomach. I haven't eaten since yesterday afternoon and what Jack has cooking has me drooling.

I hear the three of them bantering as I near the main floor landing and it's typical brotherly type stuff.

"Ya'll be on your best behavior," Forrest says sternly, "I know it's been a while, okay, never, since we've had a guest here but don't embarrass me."

I clear my throat as I step around the corner to let them know I'm there and they all turn to face me. I can honestly say that none of them look even remotely alike. Howard is tall, gangly; almost scarecrow like with a mop of curly, perpetually tangled hair. Jack is short, a barrel chested with a sweet baby face. He keeps his hair short on the sides and long on top, slicked back. Forrest is somewhere in between the two in height. The only thing they have in common is hair and eye color.

"Good evening," I say a bit uneasily as the three of them continue to stare at me. I look down to make sure I remembered to wear clothes.

"Miss Sookie, would you care for some pancakes and bacon?" Jack asks and starts to assemble a plate for me before I even answer.

"It smells amazing, so yes please."

I look over and see that the table is set for two with glasses of milk and I can't help but smile.

"Aren't you two joining us?" I ask. Jack and Howard both shake their heads no. "Why not?"

"We can't eat real food like Forrest can and we don't want to gross you out by drinking TruBlood in front of you while you're trying to eat," Forrest says while he's setting my plate on the table.

"Oh please," I mutter and open the fridge. I take out two bottles of O Positive and unscrew the caps. It only takes me a second to spot the microwave and I pop them in for a minute and a half. "I know you guys don't know much about me but it takes a lot more than two vampires chugging on some synthetic blood during breakfast to freak me out."

Howard laughs and the sound is ridiculously hysterical, pretty soon we're all chuckling.

"You might just be alright gal," Howard says after a good minute and I see him wink at Forrest who immediately growls his mock disapproval. When the beeper goes off on the microwave I pull the bottles out and give them a good shake with my thumbs covering the tops. I guess all that time working for Sam Merlotte was bound to pay off eventually. I smile at the memory of my friend and former boss. I wonder what he would think about the predicament I've gotten myself in to.

I put aside thinking about things that are beyond my control and dig into the plate that Jack has placed before me. The pancakes are scrumptious, the bacon crispy and delicious. I've never had real, honest-to-God maple syrup before and it's absolutely heavenly. Before I know it everything is gone and I feel like I'm going to have a food baby. Forrest is finished too and smiling at me.

"What?" I ask, more than a little self-conscious.

"I like a gal that ain't afraid to eat," he says with a sly little smile sitting upon his beautiful mouth. He has a tiny drop of syrup sitting on the left corner of his mouth and I feel like sliding across the table Dukes of Hazzard style just to lick it off. Instead I control myself and make a motion with my napkin.

"So Sookie, what brings you to this part of the country? I recognize the accent, Louisiana, right?" Jack says as he's clearing the table. Howard is looking at me over the top of his bottle of blood. Forrest starts to say something, probably to tell Jack to piss off with his questions or something similar. I hold up my finger, mocking the way he's silenced me a few times since we met, and wink at him.

"Well Jack, it comes down to this. I was running away from a bad situation."

"I see… so is that why you're here with us now?" Howard says, eyeing me, gauging my willingness to open up.

"Yeah, it is," I mutter, looking at my hands. Had Forrest told them nothing? He wouldn't though; he'd think it rude to tell them anything for fear of breaking my confidences. "That bad situation has decided to track me here. Sometimes even if you're done with a situation, the situation isn't done with you."

"Miss Sookie…"

"Jack, please call me Sookie," I say, smiling as he puts on the Donna Reed apron again.

"Sookie, I just want to tell you that you're safe here…" I smile at him and wait for him to continue. "Umm, that's all," he says and goes back to cleaning up the mess.

"Would you like for me to show you around?" Forrest says while standing and extending his hand.

"Sure, just let me grab a jacket."

"Here, you can wear one of mine," he says softly, draping a heavy, soft coat over my shoulders. The intimacy of wearing his clothes sends me into a tailspin for some reason that is beyond me. Maybe it's just the gesture; it's something that I can't remember Bill or Eric ever offering. Maybe it's being surrounded suddenly by the smell of him; his cologne is heady and musky. Maybe it's just the fact that he's so considerate and concerned about my well-being. Whatever the reason, I'm panicking and feeling the urge to run. I think it boils down to the fact that I really like this guy and I'm afraid that Eric Northman is going to kill him because of me.


	16. Chapter 16

The night is cool, like I'd expected it to be in this higher elevation but not uncomfortable. Forrest slips his hand in mine and it feels easy and natural. He leads me around the different buildings of the compound. There is a smokehouse where Jack cures hams and other meats; some that he sells to people and much that he donates to the Children's Home in Sevierville. I learn it's also where he cures the bacon like what I had eaten with the pancakes.

To the side of the house is the pig pen, hogs being the only animals that they raise. Howard is mainly the one who tends to them. Forrest tells me that Jack doesn't have the stomach for slaughtering and also can't bring himself to process a hog that he knew so he doesn't like to get friendly or familiar with them at all. It makes me even fonder of Jack for being such a tender-hearted vampire. It also makes me like Howard more to know that he shields his brother from things that make him uncomfortable. I adore them all for the ways that they stay busy during their forever.

There is a pretty large climate controlled building that stores many of his parents belongings and things from their lives in Franklin; his mother's loom and spinning wheel, his father's field implements and a few of his antique guns. There is also a large oval standing mirror that seems newer than the other belongings but still antique. Forrest sees me staring at it.

"It was Maggie's."

"Maggie?" I ask, not sure if I want to know the back story due to the catch in his voice and the sheer heartbreak on his face.

"It's a long story but I think it's something you need to know."

"Okay then, I trust your judgment."

"Let's head back to the stills, it's warmer in there and it has some comfortable chairs."

He takes my hand again and we head to the same building that I remember being sure was the one that contained the moonshine equipment. There is a keypad on the outside of the door and he enters a complicated code again. The door opens in a manner really reminiscent of something you'd see on Star Trek and we walk inside.

I don't know what I was thinking the whole affair would look like but it sure as hell wasn't this. The stills are humongous and made of some sort of coppery looking metal, the floor is polished concrete. It looks like a professional brewery more than an illegal operation. The smell of the cooking mash is intense and I start feeling a little light-headed. Forrest ushers me into a glass enclosed office of sorts where there is a rather large sectional couch, a huge TV and what appears to be a wall of monitors that show every inch of the compound from a million different angles.

I wait for Forrest to sit and then sit a couple of cushions away from him. He looks a little perplexed as he pats the seat next to him and I scoot close enough for him to put his arm around me.

"The story of Maggie is complicated and I don't want you to think that it's something that is going to be a problem for you and me. It's not. She was a long time ago and she is not a ghost of mine. You're probably wondering why I keep the mirror. It's not because of her."

"Forrest, you don't have to tell me anything, you don't owe me any explanation…"

"But I do because I don't want there to be any secrets. I feel like you and I have some deeper connection, something that was meant to happen, and something that needs to be nurtured. You can't build anything to last without a solid foundation and nothing lasts that's built upon lies. Omission of the truth is the same as lying," he says while looking far too deeply into my eyes. "I don't want to hide anything. You can't make an informed decision about whether you want to be with me if you don't know the whole truth."

"Okay," I sigh, breathing in deeply, "let me have it."

He smiles gently and kisses my hand.

"I was still alive when I met Maggie. She'd showed up at our business one day asking about a job. She was from the city, which that much was obvious. Her clothes were far too fancy for her to be a local plus I would have known her. There was no one that I didn't know or know of in Franklin. She was nice enough but you could tell that there was the weight of the world on that woman's shoulders and that she was running from something. I gave her a job and things were pretty quiet and calm for a while but you'd never prove that by how jumpy and nervous she was. But she had a reason for looking behind all the time because he trouble did follow her. After an incident that ended in me getting cut and hospitalized and her assaulted by some men who knew her from the city, I moved her into the spare room above the gas station we ran. I'm not going to lie, she and I ended up becoming intimate. She came to me one night naked and scared and that's how it started. I felt sorry for Maggie; she was always on edge, always fearful of her past catching up with her again. Maybe I could have loved her if things had been different, maybe we could have settled down and had a normal life if she hadn't been constantly looking over her shoulder. She was fragile, already broken when she found her way to my brothers and me and it was all we could do to keep her from wilting."

I squeeze his hand and smile my encouragement. It seems to me that he has needed to tell someone about this for some time and it's a relief for him to get it out.

"But I have to go back a little further to tell you about Papa Manny. Papa Manny was the old Melungeon medicine man. We grew up knowing of him; Ma went to him for ointments and other folk medicines. He was the one who brought me back from the brink of death when I caught Spanish Flu. Everyone knew there was something off about him, mainly because he had never aged a day and he kept to himself for the most part. So imagine my surprise when I come back from a selling run and find him in the station with Maggie."

Forrest stands up and starts pacing; I can feel this is where the story must get bad.

"She hadn't called on him but somehow he'd just known that there was something to gain from her. She'd wanted to get revenge on the men who had cut me; they'd basically slit my throat from ear to ear. But even worse was that while I lay bleeding out in the dirt they had raped Maggie. Even after that she'd been the one who saved my life, dragged me to the hospital so they could sew me up. Without her I would have died that night without a doubt. I guess the fact that she'd saved me is what compelled me to take on her debt with Manny. The thing is, and I had been too stupid and blind to see it at the time, but he'd never meant to take Maggie. She'd bartered her soul to that old devil for retribution but he'd really come for mine."

He stops pacing and sits down next to me again, turning to face me. I can feel my tears trying to well up and I don't want him to see me cry. I don't want him to think I find his story pitiful even if deep down inside I do.

"You wonder why I'm so different from other vampires, even different from my brothers. Well, it's because my soul is still here, trapped in that mirror; Maggie's mirror. I knew she was too weak to survive whatever Manny had planned for her and I couldn't see her walking down that road. So I offered myself in her stead because I owed her my life anyway. She got her revenge on the men who raped her. I'll let it suffice to only say that there wasn't enough left of them to put in a shoebox and bury."

"So your transformation was due to some kind of weird folk magic?"

"As much as I can recall, and that's not saying a lot. I do know that Manny took me away that night after the ritual and it was a month before I found my way out of his control and back to my brothers. I also know that somehow he placed a part of me inside that silvered glass. It was more of a separation of my body and whatever constitutes a man's soul than an actual death," he says and I see him shudder almost imperceptibly.

"You know, I had to kill him to get away so obviously he hadn't seen that coming. The things that man expected me to do, to basically murder for him without cause or reason other than to procure what he needed for even more evil doings…" his voice trails off and I can't bear to see the horror on his face as he remembers.

"So if you killed Manny how did your brothers become vampires?"

"By a vampire who we happened upon purely by chance a few months later. Manny had told me that as long as the mirror remained unbroken I would never die. If you'd asked me before all the unpleasant business with him I would have told you even then that I couldn't die," he says, smiling ruefully. "Something happened when Manny changed me. I was able to see people for what they really were. I knew all about weres, shifters and vampires long before the rest of the world. All it took was flashing my fangs at Jack and Howard one time and they were believers. We sat down and talked about it as calmly as possible. Then we decided once we found the vampire that we would pay him to turn Jack and Howard so we could stay together. We were all we had but now I honestly see now how selfish it was of me to ask it of them, to let them sacrifice their normal lives to make sure I would never be lonely."

"But you didn't force them, they wanted it, surely you see that," I try to reassure him, desperate to take that look from his face. "Can I ask what happened to Maggie?"

"She spent her final years in a lunatic asylum. Once she got her revenge there just didn't seem to be anything else holding her together. Her rage at those men, at almost all men, was what kept her going. When that was gone, so was she. She was still so young when she died."

"Forrest, I am so sorry," is all I can manage and I lean in to kiss him on the cheek.

"I've thought so many times about breaking that mirror," he whispers and I feel like I've been slapped. "Life has been so pointless in these recent years. I love my brothers but I felt like I was just drifting without meaning and purpose. I know I am dead but I really felt dead. The fact that I allowed my brothers to be turned into immortals was the only thing that kept me from taking a hammer and ending myself. And then you came along, just like he said you would…"

"Like who said I would?"

"It's not important, the point is I've been waiting for you for a long time and now that you're here there's nothing I won't do to keep you safe."

"Forrest, this may sound stupid but maybe it's me who's keeping you safe instead of the other way around," I say and I feel one single tear drop slide down my cheek before I can stop it.

"Maybe this is one of those times when two people save each other," he counters and I can't help but smile. Macho until the bitter end just like some other men I have known in my life.

"Maybe," I agree and Forrest stands, pulling me up and into a hug. I bury my face into his chest and breathe him in. If only I could ignore the shit storm that is about to rain down all around us; if only Eric could listen to reason and not come here. But I know there is a major storm on the horizon and it's unavoidable. Someone is going to get hurt.

We turn and head out of the office, I'm assuming back to the house when an extremely loud alarm sounds. I cover my ears and Forrest picks me up, speeding back to the office. He slams and locks the door and we both head over to the wall of monitors. My blood is instantly chilled when I see the tall, all too familiar frame of the devil I was just thinking of. It's like he can see me because he turn and faces the camera that's feeding the image of him to the monitor I'm staring at. He mouths one word.

"Sookie…"


	17. Chapter 17

"Is this the mother fucker who has you so scared?" Forrest growls and points at the screen, "Because I'll fuckin' kill him!"

"Listen to me, let me try to reason with him before you do anything…" I try pleading but I don't even believe myself. I hear Howard's voice come over some sort of intercom in the office and I jump about two feet in the air.

"Forrest, UV lights or the nets?"

"Both," he says and his voice is full of steel and determination. I feel like I'm on a runaway train and there is not a damned thing I can do except brace for impact.

I see a blinding white light wash out the images on all of the monitors and when the picture returns I see nothing except empty nets on the ground.

"Fuck," I hear Forrest say under his breath as he surveys his empty traps. All I can think about is how pissed off Eric must be right now and then that turns to worry as I realize he's been burned, probably severely, by the UV lights. I'm about to turn away to hide my face when I see a fist close in rapidly on the camera lens. There is a flash of black and white fuzzy screen and then nothing.

"Forrest, he's out there on top of the buildings," I say, almost too frightened to speak. I'm scared of Eric, I'm scared for Eric and I'm scared for Forrest and his brothers. I don't want anyone to get hurt but I know things aren't going to end well.

Forrest walks over to the desk and pushes a small red button on the bottom of the phone. "Jack, Howard, lockdown mode. No one goes outside and I fucking mean it. We're in the office of the still building. We're probably here until sundown tomorrow night. Keep coms on and open."

Howard responds simply with "Check," and then Forrest has me by the hand, pulling me towards the door again. I start to speak but he turns and silences me with a finger to his mouth then points towards the ceiling. I try not to scream when the lights flicker. I can hear the repetitive sound of Eric's fists beating on the roof of the building. He's trying to tear his way through the material to get to me.

We cross the main floor and head towards the back wall. My protector positions me in front of a bookcase and grabs a jar of moonshine from a shelf. He hurls it towards the office and I watch as the jar shatters and liquid splatters everywhere. He throws two more large jars and covers the floor with moonshine and broken glass. I stifle a scream and I try to stop him as he lights a match and tosses it onto the clear liquor. I see the liquid ignite and he turns, motioning for me to be quiet again and places a hand over his heart. He's asking me in a wordless way to trust him.

He pushes the bookcase to the side and there is a small door hidden behind it with a keypad on it. A few finger taps and we are inside a metal lined hallway and Forrest is pouring more moonshine onto the floor and moving the bookcase back into place with some cleverly placed handles that are installed on the back. He closes the door and taps something into another keypad. As we start to hurry down the hallway I can feel that we are getting deeper inside of the earth.

"Don't worry, I didn't burn the place down, I was just covering your scent. That was 100 proof shine and there's no way he'll be able to track your scent now. What doesn't burn away will be covered by the smell. The stills are fire proof and so is pretty much anything else. The sprinklers will kick on in about 30 more seconds."

I can't think of anything to say, I'm amazed at his preparedness.

"I didn't mean to be rude but I knew he could hear us talking in there. I'm not sure that he won't be able to break through the ceiling but I wanted him to think that we would be in there. Howard and Jack are on their way here now through the tunnel under the house."

"What is here exactly?"

"Lockdown, in other words, completely underground," he mutters as we head further down the metal corridor.

After a few hundred feet we come upon another door that looks even more formidable than the one behind the bookcase. There is yet another keypad and while Forrest is using it to unlock what looks like a bank vault door, I take note of what looks like a darkened mirror directly above us in the ceiling.

"What is that?" I ask, pointing towards it.

"An array of UV lights," he says absently, "If anyone comes down this hallway after we are inside and I have keyed in the lockdown code, the sensors will trip and enough UV radiation to fry a fool like bacon will rain down with extreme prejudice."

As the door opens I feel a cool rush of air and then Forrest is pulling me inside. I look around at what I can only describe as a well-furnished bomb shelter. It looks like an almost exact replica of their homes main level only minus the windows. There is a full bank of security monitors in the corner and doors that lead of to what I imagine are sleeping areas.

There is a beeping sound behind me and I feel Forrest come up next to me and put his arms around me.

"Are you okay?" he asks and I sag into him, feeling the last of my adrenaline disappear.

"I'm fine, I'm fine…" I repeat over and over and I'm not sure if I'm trying to convince him or myself. "I just need to sit down I think." Forrest picks me up and carries me to the couch; he lays me down gently and then covers me with a blanket. I could weep from looking at the concern and care on his face. I could cry because somewhere outside Eric is fighting tooth and nail to get to me and I still love him and care about him too much to see him get hurt or die a final death. I could wail because if I had to right now, I don't think I could choose between Forrest and Eric.

There is no doubt that Forrest is the best choice I could make. He's stable, steady, caring and a beautiful soul. There is a crazy attraction between us that can't be denied and I also can't deny that I want to get closer to him, to know him in every way. But Eric was my true north and my heart for so long that it's hard to let go. He's a terrible choice for a boyfriend for just about anyone but he was truly mine for a while and I loved him with all of me. I loved his wiles, his feral, unbound way of making love and his passion; dear lord he has such passion. But he chose another, he didn't choose me and I have to remember that. I can't fool myself into thinking that there will ever be a future for Eric and me but I know there could be something special, something lasting with Forrest. That doesn't mean that I want to see Eric get hurt. That doesn't mean that my heart doesn't feel like it's being ripped to shreds by the thought of never seeing or touching Eric or hearing his voice again.

Howard and Jack come barreling into the main room from another entrance somewhere behind me. There are curses and threats and a general feeling of anger in a cloud surrounding them. Jack comes immediately to my side and takes my hand.

"Are you ok? What do you need? Is there anything…"

"I'm ok Jack," I reassure him as best I can and he releases his hold on my hands.

"I say we go outside and kill that bastard!" Jack all but screams as he stands up and begins to pace.

"Calm the hell down Jack. No one is going outside. He will have to give up in a few hours when the sun comes up." Howard says as he steps forward and gives me a look that I can't interpret at the moment.

"But don't you see? He'll never give up, the sun will only deter him until night comes again. He'll keep coming back and he'll tear this place to the ground to get to me or he'll die trying and no offense but I don't want either one to happen," I blurt out, throwing the cover off of me and sitting on the edge of the sofa. And then I can't help it, the tears are flowing without any sign of stopping.

The reactions of all three brothers are as varied as they are; Forrest immediately puts his arms back around me and Jack paces even faster, looking more agitated than I would have thought possible. Howard, looking like he's found himself inside a horror film, backs into a corner and starts twisting his hat like he's trying to wring water out of it.

"Sookie, it's okay, shhhh," Forrest whispers in his most soothing voice. Suddenly Jack stops and goes slack jawed, his arms drooping and his expression completely blank.

"Howard…" Forrest growls and like a flash the oldest brother is beside the youngest, his hands supporting, and his voice low and calm.

"What do you see, Jack?" Howard whispers.

"Sookie makes the call. She makes the call that ends it now."

Howard looks at Forrest and the confusion between them is palpable. I, however, am not confused. I get an image straight from Jack as clear as if I'm watching it on television. I see myself and I have a phone in my hand; I'm speaking to someone, telling them where Eric is and what he's doing. One last sob escapes me and I straighten my back. It's the only way to bring this to an end without someone dying and as much as I feel it's a betrayal to what I once had with Eric I know it's what I must do.

"Sookie, what is it?" Forrest asks, rubbing my arm and my back.

"I need to call Oklahoma," I say through my tears and already I feel like such a traitor. I pull my cell phone out of my pants pocket and look up the number for Philippe De Castro. I guess there had been a reason to have kept his contact after all. Howard brings me a landline phone, the one I saw through Jack and I have to try three times before I get the set of digits dialed correctly.

My name still carries clout with De Castro because he hopes to still utilize my talents and it doesn't take long to get to him directly.

"Mess Steckhuss, what a pleasant suprisse," he says by way of greeting, his accent as heavy as I remember.

"I believe you may be interested to know that at the moment I am under attack by your former sheriff and I think it would be in everyone's best interest if I could be put in touch with The Queen of Oklahoma." There's no sense in beating around the bush with this man. My demand is met with dead silence and I'm sure it's because he's not used to people being so abrupt with him.

"Mess Steckhuss, you will find The Queen is in Louisiana, trying to track the very vampire I am sure you refer to."

I don't even bother to answer; I merely hang up and dial the number for Fangtasia from memory. While it rings I ask if this line is untraceable and am assured by Howard that we're safe. Pam answers and I cut her off mid-greeting.

"Pam, put the Queen on the phone."

"Sookie, I'm sure she doesn't have the slightest inclination to talk to her husband's ex-gash."

"Fucking put her on the phone if you want your maker to survive the night!" I scream into the receiver and I hear her sharp intake of breath.

"Just a moment."

I don't know what I am going to say to this woman or even if she will listen to me but if this is how Jack saw me ending it then this is what I will trust in. I hear pounding footsteps coming down the tunnel that Forrest and I had entered through.

"ERIC!" I shriek and then I hear him screaming through the thick steel door. The sound is full of agony like I have never heard before. The retreating footfalls are much slower and then I hear his body thud to the ground. A feeling of extreme pain and sadness flows through the remnant of my bond with Eric. I run towards the door that separates us, falling to my knee's a third of the way there and crawling the rest of the way.

"ERIC!" I sob over and over, beating at the steel barrier with my fists until they bleed. I feel Forrest pick me up and cradle me to his chest and I beat at him. "NO! I scream and try to free myself from his arms.

"Sookie, he's not dead. Look," Forrest is pointing to a monitor and I can see Eric leaned up against a wall, I can see the fluttering of his eyelids and the small movements his body makes as it struggles to repair itself. "See, he isn't dead, he'll be fine."

It's the last thing I hear as I slip into a blessed unconsciousness. Forrest's low, gravelly voice assures me that Eric will live and it's all I need to know.


	18. Chapter 18

I'm not sure where I am when I first wake up but it doesn't take long for the horrible realization to sink it. Eric is hurt and it's my fault.

"How long have I been out?" I ask as I sit up on the couch. I'm aware that we're still in the underground bunker but that's about all I know for sure.

"Less than an hour," I hear Forrest say from across the room. I smell coffee and hear him coming closer. I look up in time to see him offering me a steaming mug. I've never been one to drink coffee but for some reason it seems like a normal and practical thing to do right now. I'm about to ask after Eric but Forrest beats me to the punch.

He's in the back, in the interrogation room. We've made him as comfortable as possible but I'm sure you understand that we've had to restrain him inside a silver lined cell." Forrest can't seem to look me in the eye and I can't blame him. What he must think of me now.

"Can I see him?"

"Of course you can," there is incredulity in his voice along with a defensive tone, "you're not a prisoner here."

I want to protest but I can see why he took my words the way he did. I feel like the tears might start all over again and I do my best to put on a brave face, to will the tears away. I feel even sadder when Forrest motions for me to follow him but doesn't offer his hand to me like he has so many times in the past few days. There's a wall between us now, I can't see it but I sure as hell feel it. I set the coffee mug down and stand to follow Forrest.

I stay steps behind him as he moves down a short hallway to a solid metal door. I know it's silver but I'm not surprised that Forrest can touch it without any repercussions. He swings it open and I see Eric lying on a hospital bed behind a bank of solid silver bars. He's burned just about everywhere that I can see but I can also tell that he's on the mend.

"Jack and Howard donated some blood to him to help him heal faster."

"Why would they do that?"

"Because he means something to you… and you mean something to me."

His words cut like a knife and he leaves the room before I can even begin to struggle with a response. I'm thankful for this, I don't want to make some ham handed attempt at saying the right thing and end up making things worse.

Eric stirs on the bed and I see he's not in restraints; other than the silver bars there is nothing holding him back, he's just that injured. A younger vampire would have been a smoking heap of goo in that hallway after the UV blast but Eric lived. I struggle to speak but I can't find a voice. Or maybe I really just don't have anything to say to the man on the other side of the bars. I open my mouth several times but nothing comes out. I turn to go and from behind me I hear Eric call for me faintly.

"Sookie, don't leave…"

Something about the weakness and pleading in his voice ignites me. I'm fucking pissed instantly. I didn't do this to Eric Northman, he did it to himself. Too many times in the past I've let my heart manipulate my mind into forgiving the unforgivable, into leading me down the wrong path and making bad choices. Not this time, no sir.

"I told you not to come here. I told you I was finally happy, making a life for myself here. Now look at yourself, look what you've done Eric. You could have DIED in that tunnel."

"And just why would you care? Apparently I have already been replaced," he says facetiously, his gall never decreasing despite being so wounded.

"Need I remind you that you are the one who went off and married someone else?"

"I guess it doesn't matter now but you should know that if I hadn't, the Queen of Oklahoma had plans to have you executed."

"I suppose you mean that to shock me but honestly, big fucking whup. When ISN'T someone plotting or planning to kill me? Oh I know, for the past six months up until YOU showed up! There is nothing you can say that will convince me that there wasn't something you couldn't have done to make the marriage contract go away."

"Well it sure would have been an easy thing for you to have remedied with the fucking Cluviel Dor!"

"So you would expected me to let my friend Sam die instead of saving him? See, that just proves to me that I did the right thing. You're so fucking selfish and self-centered. You think the whole fucking world revolves around you, that nothing else matters unless it affects you directly. Well, let me clue you in on a little fact Mr. Northman, there are a lot of other people on this planet, people who matter even if they can't benefit you somehow. I want you gone as soon as you are able to go. I'll protect you from the men here as best as I can until then but need to realize the damage you've done. You've come here and destroyed their property, upset the balance of the way of life they've established and you've scared the hell out of me."

"Sookie, you are mine," Eric growls from the bed and I can see him struggle to rise up. I wait for him to make eye contact and slowly I began to shake my head, telling him no.

"I am not yours Eric. I am Forrest's."

I turn and walk out of the room and I can hear Eric screaming my name hoarsely as I close the heavy silver door behind me. I lean back on the door to gather my strength but the tears come and I slide slowly down the wall. I fold in on myself, burying my face in my knees and I let it all come out. I'm letting go and it hurts. The pain of releasing someone you love is bad enough but worse when you know that they aren't ready to let you go. I can't love Eric like this and be fair to Forrest too; I can't give my whole heart to this beautiful man if Eric still owns a piece of it. I have to let him go.

"I forgive you Eric but it has to end. I abjure you…"

It's funny, when Amelia broke the bond between Eric and I it felt like that part of me went numb to an extent but I still felt Eric. Speaking these words now, I feel a complete separation, a severing. The pain and anger that was flowing into me as Eric raged on the other side of the door disappears and while I can still hear him with my ears, I can no longer feel him.

"Sookie! What have you done?" I hear Eric say from the other side of the door. He sounds frightened almost.

"Goodbye Eric."

I wander back into the main area of the bunker and find Forrest sitting facing the monitors.

"Hi," I say meekly. It's all I can manage. I know my face is puffy with tears, not my best look but I figure if he wants me he will have to take the ugly too. When he doesn't look at me or answer I walk towards him and decide to sit on the floor next to his chair.

"So, is this where you tell me that you're leaving with him?"

I'm stunned to say the least. I was sure that he had been listening to every word I had spoken to Eric.

"Forrest…"

"No its ok. There is obviously a lot of love there and I understand…"

"Forrest…"

"I'll have Jack gather your things and arrange for him to be transferred to somewhere…"

'God dammit Forrest, listen to me!" This gets his attention and he turns to face me. "I love Eric, I told you this and you know that he will always hold a place in my heart." Forrest nods his head sadly and looks back down at his shoes. "But honey, it's nothing compared to the way you make me feel. You can give me everything Eric never could or was never willing to. And I want to spend the rest of my life trying to make you as happy as I know you'll make me."

His face goes from heart broken, to incredulous, to all out joyful in the span of a half of a second. He picks me up off of the floor and grabs me into a bear hug, kissing me and saying my name over and over so softly that I can barely hear it.

I pull away from him and put my hands on his shoulders.

"With that being said, I don't want to rub anything in Eric's face, or pour salt into his wounds so to speak. We need to figure out a way to get him out of here, to get him someplace safe without exposing where you guys live. I also need some more time with him to make him realize that things are over between us so that he doesn't come back here and try the same shit again. So I am going to ask you to trust me. Leave me down here with him, you, Howard and Jack go back up and go about things as normal. Leave me a way to keep in contact with you just in case. I won't open the cell until I am sure he's reasonable."

"I don't like this…"

"Forrest, a wise man once said blah, blah, and blah about trust and building on a solid foundation. I need you to give me this chance to end things the right way with him so that I have a shot at peace. You don't know Eric like I do; you don't know what he's capable of, the good or the bad. I wouldn't be asking this of you if I didn't think it would work. Besides, I told him under no uncertain terms that I was yours," I add shyly, wondering how he'll take it. I look into his eyes and watch as the iris completely disappears. For only the second time I see his fangs extend and he licks his bottom lip.

"You told him that you were mine," he parrots and I nod. I can feel my body start to respond to the promise of those fangs.

"Can Howard come sit guard for a little while? I think I need some fresh air."

Before I can say anything else Forrest is on the phone asking for Howard to come down to the shelter. It's not long before Forrest and I are walking hurriedly up the tunnel to the main house. We hurry up the steps, passing Jack who says something but gets only the silencing finger from Forrest as we pass. I lead him into my room and close the door. He stands facing me and I can't tear my eyes away from those beautiful fangs.

"Sookie, I don't know what this is I'm feeling…"

"Shhh…" I say and walk closer to him. "I know what it is; it's your nature telling you to claim what's yours in a way that I'd be willing to bet that you've never claimed a female before. You want to taste me, to drink me… And Forrest, just so you know, I want you to…"

I stand on my tip toes and graze the ends of his fangs with my tongue. He shudders and closes his eyes, restraint painted like a portrait on the canvas of his face.

"I'm scared," he whispers, "I've never bitten anyone that I didn't kill."

"Don't be scared, you've never bitten anyone that you cared about. And you care about me, don't you?"

I start to unbutton my blouse but Forrest stills my hands and takes over for me. His movements are deliberate and slow. In other words, he's driving me out of my fucking mind. He never looks away from my face and I never look away from his mouth. Once I am naked I don't hesitate to start removing his clothes and it doesn't take me near as long. My breath comes in short bursts, I am turned on beyond words but I crave something other than sex in this moment.

I place my hands on the each side of Forrest's face and pull him to me. I kiss his lips, lingering long enough to explore his fangs again with my tongue. They're sharp, so sharp that I accidentally puncture my tongue and he moans when he gets a tiny taste of my blood.

"Jesus, Sookie…" he whispers reverently, his eyes going dark again as his pupil expands infinitely.

"Forrest," I whisper back as I guide his mouth to my neck. I don't know why this is so important to me or why I'm not the least bit scared. In fact, I WANT this so bad that I ache for it. This is an act of completion; the final step in letting go of what I no longer need and accepting what I desire with all my heart.

His chilly breath on my skin gives me goose bumps and I wait an eternity in those seconds before I feel him bite. There are no words that can adequately describe the feeling; it's like I've become a part of him. My blood flows into him and so does a part of who I am. He moans into my neck and swallows deeply. I can feel him pressed against me, his body needing. He licks the wounds he made and I ease back onto the bed. There is no hurry in this, no doubt and no regret. I'm home.

My body remembers the shape and size of him and welcomes him inside. I wind my fingers in his hair and pull his mouth to mine as I raise my hips to meet his unhurried thrusts. My hands wander down the muscled contour of his shoulders, follow the dip of his lower back and then settle on the curves of his ass. I mold my fingers to the shape of him as I marvel at the feel of his body pressing forward. He is a work of art, a living statue crafted by a master and I could happily spend the rest of my life worshiping him.

He's looking at me and I get lost in the depths of his adoration; combined with the feeling of my impending release its bliss beyond measure. I know he's close as well but trying to hold out until I can reach that pinnacle with him. I lift up and taste my blood on his lips before turning my face to bare the unbitten side of my neck to him.

"Please…" I moan and quick like a viper he obliges. I'm lost as wave after wave of my orgasm tosses me like a ship lost at sea. I can feel him releasing into me, his gasps and moans heightening with my body contracting around him. He pulls me close and rolls onto his side with me still impaled upon him.

Something is happening, there is warmth spreading inside of me that I've never experienced before; complete and utter joy. I truly belong to him now. We belong to each other. Any problems that might arise can be solved as long as I can look and find him near. Even the problem of an ex-lover only a few hundred feet away who isn't going to be happy about any of this.


	19. Chapter 19

I'm absolutely boneless, or at least that's what my body is relaying to my brain. While everything south of my neck seems to be content to stay in bed with a decidedly relaxed Forrest, who is snoring lightly behind me with his body molded to mine like a glove, my brain is racing.

How am I going to bring Eric to the realization that I'm done when my heart still aches for him? I care deeply for Forrest and there is no question that he is absolutely the right choice but I have such a deep love for Eric that I don't think will ever fully go away. There is a long and storied history between the Viking and me, a history that is vibrant and full of good memories more than bad. I have to be honest with myself; if it weren't for his maker interfering I have no doubt that I would have been back in Louisiana tonight making love with Eric tonight.

On the flip side of that coin is the same point that I keep coming back to time and again; Eric did nothing to fight the decision made for him by Ocella. He basically rolled over and played dead. Something about that has never sat right with me and I know that there has to be more to the story. Eric has lived for a thousand years, been successful in every venture, and gained the advantage in every situation. He didn't live this long by being a lapdog. So what could have possibly been held over his head to make him so complacent? I sigh deeply as I realize that there are answers that must be had and truths that I am most likely not going to enjoy hearing.

I roll gently over to face Forrest and he's sleeping peacefully, a calm smile on his face. I trace every line and angle visually. In his sleepy repose he looks beautiful; I envy that peace.

"I can feel you staring at me," he growls and his smile spreads from ear to ear. He laughs and pulls me closer. I feel his burrow his nose into the top of my head and breathe in deeply. "I love the way you smell."

His tone has gone from playful to dripping with suggestiveness in one sentence. As much as I want to let him have his way with me again I know there is too much riding on my immediate descent into the shelter below ground. I have to convince Eric to leave us in peace if I want to have any sort of relationship with Forrest. I have to convince him to let me go and it's not going to happen if I stay up here in bed with Forrest.

"It's time for me to head back down, to start trying to reason with Eric. But first I need to shower. I don't want him to smell you on me."

Forrest growls again but this time the tone is menacing instead of playful. "I don't want you down there alone with him Sookie."

"If he senses any of ya'll down there nothing I say or do is going to get through to him. Even with me telling him that I am yours now he's still bound to be territorial. You have to understand Forrest that he's over a thousand years old. He didn't get to be that old by just giving up or losing at anything! Your gadgets are what captured him but if it came to a hand to hand fight I don't think the four of us combined could take him down. Reason is the only way I can see this ending well."

"And what if you can't reason with him? What do we do then? I won't stand by and let him hurt you in any way. What happens if I don't have a choice but to kill him to keep you or my brothers safe? Will you hate me?" His eyes are boring into mine and I feel fierce loyalty in that gaze. This man would die to protect the people he cares about.

"I could never hate you," I whisper, my fingers tracing the outline of his lips, "I can only see what I feel for you getting stronger by the minute."

And then, without thinking much about it, I utter something that shocks me with its bare bones honesty.

"I could love you so easily."

Forrest smiles at me and I can read all too well that he feels the same way; he doesn't have to say a word to me. His kiss is tender and unhurried and I relish the feel of his soft, pillowy lips on mine. There's so much being said in this kiss that I don't want it to end. Forrest pulls away first, he looks me in the eyes and smiles.

"Do what you think you need to. There are phones down there that connect directly to the phones up here. I'll have Jack bring food and blood down," he sits up on the side of the bed and reaches for his pants. "Sookie, don't do anything to put yourself in harm's way. I don't want to have to kill someone you love. I don't want to think about what that would do to you, to us."

"I won't. I promise," I say quickly, kissing his back before climbing out of bed and heading towards the bathroom.

I scrub until my skin feels raw but I know it's of no use; Eric will just know somehow. I have a million obstacles to overcome but I have to find a way to get him to see things realistically. I know that when it gets down to brass tacks, Forrest will end Eric without ever letting him out of that silver cell he's in now if he thinks he's a threat. I wouldn't be able to stop it no matter what I did. And Forrest is right; it would affect our relationship no matter how justified he might be in acting it out.

I climb out of the shower and set about making myself presentable yet not looking like I dressed up for Eric. Forrest is a patient and calm man but I know he must have a jealous side. I'm walking a fine line between Eric and my lover; a line that could mean the difference between life or death, love or hate. I feel a huge burden on my shoulders. Forrest is gone by the time I am done in the bathroom and I feel sad that he didn't say goodbye. Probably for the best anyway, if he'd have come into the shower one thing would have led to another and I'd find a reason to keep putting off what I need to do.

I realize I don't even know what time it is so I look at my watch. I'm relieved to see that I have time enough to grab a bite to eat before I head down to the subterranean lair. I giggle a little at the thought of calling it a subterranean lair, like I might meet Batman down there working on the Batmobile or something.

Jack has some scrambled eggs and toast waiting for me when I descend on the kitchen. Howard and Forrest are nowhere in sight.

"They've gone out to slop the hogs," Jack says when he sees me looking around for his brothers. "Would you prefer grape or strawberry preserves?" he asks as I sit down at the counter. "I made both myself and Forrest says they're great. 'Course he's probably just being polite…"

"You are a man of many talents it seems," I chuckle, smiling brightly at him. I can't help but adore the youngest of the three brothers. He seems awkward and shy, much like me in certain situations. Before I can stop myself I lean across the counter and ask, "Jack, how do you see this playing out?"

"It doesn't work like that. I can't pick and choose what I see. It happens randomly and it's really subjective. Anything can happen to change the outcome that I see. I don't ever get a replay."

"I can hear people's thoughts you know."

Jack turns around from the fridge so quickly that I'm afraid the two jelly jars will go flying out of his hands. The look on his face is comical.

"You're safe though, I can only read human minds and some supes. It's spotty with two-natured people though."

"Strawberry or grape," Jack says after swallowing hard.

"Grape," I smile and reach my hand out.

Breakfast goes by too quickly; Jack doesn't say much else to me besides asking if I would like anything else. I ask for a piece of the pie he had baked for me the night I got here and it tastes even better than it smelled. Forrest and Howard never appear and while I'm sad that I don't get another hug or kiss from my lover before I have to go I feel it's probably better this way. Maybe I can talk more sense into Eric if I'm not reeking of another vampire.

I stand and set myself to rights, my shorts feel a little tighter thanks to the delicious meal Jack made for me. I walk over to him and give him a hug. I feel him tense up for a split second and then he's hugging me back.

I can't waste any more time. I gather my wits about me and head to the hidden door that will lead me down to Eric.

"Be careful," I hear Jack call as I close the door behind me. Lights lining the walkway automatically flicker on and I start the descent. I'm about halfway down by my own guesstimation when I feel the air change. It's the feeling of magic; I remember the first time I felt it when Niall popped into my living room.

"Hello granddaughter," I hear from behind me and I shriek before I can stop myself.

"Niall, what are you doing here?" I whisper, furious that he's caught me off guard and beyond pissed that he has obviously opened up the portals between my world and Faery once again.

"I've come to help," he says, feigning a wounded look as he places his hand over his heart.

"How could you possibly be any help to me in this situation? And don't you know there are three vampires here, well four counting Eric? They'll drain you dry if they smell you!"

"Dear child, don't worry about me when you should be worrying about how badly this could end. I have the solution to this problem! And there are only three vampires here."

"No, I'm pretty sure there are four."

"If you're including Forrest Bondurant in that count then you are mistaken. He is no vampire."

"Well I don't want to argue semantics here but I can tell you that he IS a vampire because he just drank my blood!" I hiss and turn to continue down the corridor.

"While that may be true he isn't a vampire in the true sense of the word. As a matter of fact, he's closer in reality to a zombie." This has me skidding to a halt in my tracks. "Mind you I don't mean a zombie in the way of eating your brains; I simply mean he was created to be controlled for a purpose. He only gained his freedom by killing his creator. The Native American's have a name for this kind of creature; Wendigo. Although there are legends about Wendigo, most of it is deliberate misinformation and making one is frowned upon. These creatures are nothing more than a supernatural slave made to exact revenge or carry out unsavory tasks at the command of their maker."

"But he's not a slave anymore," I say but my words are colored with uncertainty. After the whole arranged marriage debacle I can assure you that I live my life waiting for the other shoe to drop.

"No he is not," Niall says and I sigh with relief. "It's unheard of for a Wendigo to kill their maker; I don't know the whole story but it is legend in Faery; the tale of Papa Manny and his murderous Wendigo child. You know by now surely that he eats like a normal man and doesn't need blood to survive."

"Yes," I sputter. I don't feel good about sharing anything about Forrest with Niall. It feels like a breach in trust even if this being is my grandfather.

"Did you know that he can also walk in sunlight?"

"Yes," I lie, not wanting to give Niall the upper hand. I'm pretty sure that he knows I'm full of shit but I lift my chin defiantly anyhow.

From the bottom end of the tunnel I hear Eric screaming.

"Sookie! Bring me the fairy! I'm fucking starving!"

"You need to go now! He can already smell you and regardless of whether Forrest is a vampire, I know that his brothers are!" I seethe through gritted teeth. He's making things so much worse for me by trying to help.

"Sookie, I can make Eric forget all about you," Niall calls after me as I descend.

Way to make me stop dead in my tracks again there, granddad.


	20. Chapter 20

"You can make him forget about me? As in I never existed?"

"Yes child, and wouldn't that be the perfect solution to the situation you find yourself in?"

Would it? Would I want Eric to forget that we ever had anything between us, to not even know that I was ever a part of his life? I suffered the hurt of something similar before, after he regained his memory once the spell cast upon him had been broken. But he'd known me afterwards, he'd only forgotten that we'd shared a bed and even that loss was only temporary. Soon he'd remembered everything about his lost time. What Niall was proposing to me sounded final.

"He will be in no danger, your friends here on the mountain maintain their anonymity and safety in this god forsaken compound and you can be with the one you SHOULD be with."

His insistence has me more than a little suspicious. While I don't doubt that my grandfather loves me in all the ways he is capable of, I know that all Fae are self-serving and there has to be an ulterior motive, he wouldn't be offering this if there wasn't something in it for him.

"So truth now, Niall, what do you have to gain from this. And spare me the wounded look, I know you and your kind all to well to think this is some selfless act of love."

"You wound me."

"I said spare me the bullshit!" My patience is paper thin and I'm starting to look around for anything that might possibly contain enough iron to give him a serious boo boo but not kill him.

"I can tell you granddaughter, and I will if you compel me to, but knowing the truth is only going to make your choice harder and put a wall between you and I."

"There is supposed to be a wall between you and I! You told me yourself that this world is safer, that I am safer if you shut yourself and all of Faery away. You closed the portals only to reopen them several times and every time you do my life gets more fucking complicated!" I'm yelling now and it seems that the more agitated I get the more Eric bellows from below.

"Look Niall, you're right. I don't want to know. I have too much going through my mind right now to even begin thinking about adding fairy drama into the mix. I am going to try to do this on my own."

Niall raises his hand and I can feel the magic start to circulate. I raise my hand to stop him.

"But, in the event that I can't talk some sense into Eric, I hope you'll come back and we can discuss your offer further."

"You need only speak my name out loud, love. I'll be here…" his words dissipate after his physical form does and once again I am alone in the tunnel. Or so I think for a split second.

"What… what is that smell?" Jack asks in a daze. Once again I shriek in surprise and spin around on my heels. I see his outline as he approaches; he's carrying a six pack of TruBlood in each hand. "I forgot to give you these, I'm sure Eric is hungry by now…"

I know that look; it's the same look Eric got whenever he was in close proximity to Claudine. It's the look of a drug addict who sees his next fix.

"That was my fairy grandfather so graciously popping in unannounced," I mutter as I take the TruBlood from him. "Jack, go back upstairs and warn Howard that there has been a fairy here in the compound but that it's nothing to be worried about."

I try to juggle the two six packs in one hand while waving the other in front of his face. "Jack! Listen to me!"

Finally I break through his daze and he sees me.

"Yeah, sure…"

Grappling with the bottles I turn and head back down the tunnel, praying silently that no one else pops in because one more surprise and I'm pretty sure I'll shit my pants. Eric is still bellowing and I feel a surge of panic. How am I going to handle this? I have no idea what to say or what to do to even calm him down.

I make it to the central room of the bunker and head to the fridge. Upon opening it up I see that one of the brothers has thoughtfully brought some cold cuts and fruit down for me in case I get hungry. I place all but two of the bottles inside. I quickly microwave the remaining two, taking care to shake them to remove any hot spots and head to the brig. I can feel my heart speed up until it's thrumming rapidly. Right as I put my hand on the door to open it I hear Eric say, "Sookie." His tone is breathy and slow, almost spooky and I feel a shiver go down my spine. It's too intimate, too reminiscent of how he would say my name when he made love to me.

I straighten my spine, juggle the two hot bottles in one hand and open the door. I see Eric bolt off the bed like a flash and run straight into the silver bars. His anguished sound mixed with the sizzling of his flesh is too much for me; I almost drop the bottles of TruBlood and run.

"Why am I still fucking in here? Why haven't you gotten me out of here?" he screams. It's exactly what I needed for him to do; as long as I'm mad I can deal with this.

"Well gee, I don't know, Eric. Maybe because you come rampaging in here after I told you repeatedly that I didn't want you intruding on my new life. Or could it be the way you tore your way into this building and almost got your shit French fried. You're obviously not only a danger to yourself but I'm not so sure you wouldn't try to kill me just so I couldn't be with anyone else!" I am screaming at this point and near tears. I sit the bottles of blood on the ground and shove them close to the cell so he can reach through to get them. "Take the blood you obstinate old Viking," I mutter and look back for a place to sit.

"Shove that blood up your new boyfriend's ass," Eric whispers venomously and throws daggers at me with his glare.

"What did you think I was going to do once you married Oklahoma? Sit around and pine away for you for the rest of my days? I did my share of crying over you Eric; I shook my fists at the sky and wallowed in the unfairness of it all. I didn't get out of bed for DAYS after you just took off without so much as a backwards glance. I left the only fucking home I have ever known because your ghost was everywhere I looked. No matter how many times I washed the sheets they still smelled like you! I ran from the memories because it was too painful to be without you. I ran because there was no life for me in Louisiana anymore; you left a hole too big to fill! I was starting to be okay here. I was dealing with everything just fine. A fresh start was exactly what I needed and yes, I found someone who makes me happy. Who knows where it's going to lead to? It's still new and we're still learning about each other. But he makes me happy for now and surely that means something, right?" I feel deflated; all the words that just came pouring out of me were like helium inside the balloon that is me.

"Seems to me that all you're doing is fucking this guy. I can smell him all over you."

"Go to hell Eric." I stand to leave but sit back down when I see the crimson trails of his bloody tears streaming down his face. This is what I was fucking afraid of. I can't stand to see him cry.

"There is so much that you don't know. Things I didn't want to tell you, things I wanted to spare you."

"You've said that twice now but you haven't backed it up," I whisper, looking away from his face.

"I'm guessing that Niall didn't have much to say on the subject either," he counters and suddenly I'm all ears.

"What do you mean?"

"I can't tell you."

"Spit it out, Eric."

"I literally cannot tell you. I am physically incapable of uttering the simple truth that would be a complete game changer in this situation."

"You've been compelled by some magic, some kind of fairy magic?"

He only nods and I feel my stomach sink as I watch two more crimson tears slide down his face.

"And you think that if I had this knowledge it would make me rethink my relationship with you?"

"I know it would," he whispers and stands. He walks over to the bars but stays safely away from the metal. "Ask Niall to tell you the truth and you'll see that I had no choice but to marry Oklahoma. I can't tell you but I think he will if you ask. I think he'll tell you because he thinks it's too late for you and me to end up together. I'm starting to think he's right, but at least you'll have the whole story and you'll know why I did what I did."

"Drink your blood before it gets cold," is all I can manage to say and I decide this little conversation has lasted about as long as I can take for now. I need to see Forrest; I need to see him now.

Panic dogs my steps as I head back up to the house. I don't want to know anything that is going to complicate this situation any further. Then again, how can I let something like this go? Is it fair to Eric to bury my head in the sand and refuse to learn the entire truth? What will happen to what I feel for Forrest if there really is a good reason behind Eric's actions?

I can feel Niall before I see him.

"I didn't call for you goddammit."

"Not in words but I felt your discord. You will ask me for the truth and I will give it to you because I cannot lie."

"Get us out of here, somewhere away from this place so I can scream at you if the mood strikes me and I won't have to worry about vampires draining you."

"As you wish, my dear."


	21. Chapter 21

I don't know where Niall has taken me but I look around with my mouth hanging open; it's one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. Every tree in sight is in bloom with flowers of every hue and shade. There is a large pond nearby with shimmery, silver water and birds of a sort that surely don't exist in my world float effortlessly on its surface. Even the air smells sweeter, perfumed by all that is in bloom.

"Am I… did you bring me to Faery?" I feel panicked but you'd never know from the sheer awe in my voice.

"Not to worry my child. I will return you to the mountain when… and if you wish," Niall says with a wink.

"Okay, enough of the games, and you're not as cute as you think you are by the way. I want the truth and I want it now."

"Of course, but first a warning," Niall says, waving his hands dramatically.

"Always with the fucking warnings," I fume and kick at the golf course worthy grass.

"I just want you to know beforehand that this is only going to make your decision harder and that is something that I would spare you if I could."

"You've said that already."

"Secondly, you may never wish to speak to me again once you know this truth."

"I'm already leaning towards that anyway. I'm not willing to live without the full truth and I don't want to make any life decisions without the whole story, so spill, granddad," I hiss and cross my arms to drive my point home. The old bastard merely shrugs and starts to walk towards a pond in the close distance. I guess I'm meant to follow him but I do so grudgingly.

"You know the origins of the Cluviel Dor, your grandmother made sure of that. But she could not tell you what you what she herself didn't know about it."

"Go on," I mutter as I narrow my eyes.

"The Cluviel Dor was to be used for anything the holder wished for but, as with most things fae, there was a caveat. The purpose originally was for Adele to use it but as you know she never did. Fintan engineered it for one reason; to bring Adele to Faery forever. It was a trade by subterfuge; her wish would be granted and then so would Fintan's. He loved her terribly but he could not compel her to come with him so he resorted to trickery to separate her from your grandfather Earl."

"I don't understand…"

"When you used the Cluviel Dor to save Sam, there was a trade transacted. Your life for his."

"You mean I…"

"You died in his stead."

"Bullshit, I never missed a minute…" I sputter, "I mean I'm pretty fucking sure I would remember dying."

"You didn't miss a minute the second time, once I had reversed the situation."

"Reversed the situation?" I'm so dumbstruck that it seems all I can do is repeat the last thing Niall said.

"Listen child and know the truth. When you saved Sam by using the Cluviel Dor, you did indeed die. Eric Northman begged me to undo what was done and I am ashamed to say that at first I resisted him," he says, smiling at me sadly. "I felt such pity for you my darling. I thought that after all you had been through perhaps it was best for you to find some peace in another place; somewhere away from the vampires and shifters. Your future was always murky in my sight, completely unpredictable and unforeseeable. But Northman begged me to intervene, told me that he would give anything to save you. While he lay prone over your body, sobbing like a child, I couldn't help but feel that he was ultimately responsible for all that had happened to you. In that moment of my utter contempt for him, I knew what I would ask of him in return. I told the vampire that if he would leave you alone, marry the Queen of Oklahoma, and never speak of why he chose to do so that I would spare you. Since Fintan was of my blood I had the magic to make it so and he knew this. So he swore a blood oath and I sealed his mouth."

The old bastard looks so proud of his deceit that I want to smack him, open-handed, on his face. Boy was he ever right about me being pissed and never wanting to speak to him again.

"So you did this because you hate Eric that much? You hate him so much that you would take the reins of my life in your hands and set me on a course of YOUR choosing?"

"But don't you see Sookie? Eric was never a good choice for you; he was never the one you were meant to be with!"

"That was not your decision to make! And you can't tell me that you didn't know the consequences of my using the Cluviel Dor beforehand!"

"Would it have made a difference if you had known? Would it have prevented you from saving Sam's life?"

"No!" I scream, angry tears flowing out of me like a river, "But how could you have known that I would use it for something like that? Did you honestly know ahead of time that Sam was bound to die? What if I HAD used it to keep Eric out of bed with Oklahoma? What would have been the trade then?"

"There's no way of knowing that; Cluviel Dor magic is fickle much like the fae who makes it."

"Take me back, take me back right now!" I scream and actually stomp my foot. I'm beyond angry and hurt, I'm redefining livid at this point.

"There is one more thing you should know my darling."

"What the fuck else could there possibly be?"

"If you choose to leave with Eric, I will have no choice but to deal him a final death. He will have broken the blood oath and therefore the trade of a life for a life will fall upon him. It's my duty to make it so to maintain balance."

"You sorry son of a bitch," I scream, wringing my hands to keep from raking my nails down his face. "That's why you couldn't lie to me, why you wanted me to know the truth! You knew all along that by telling me everything you would assure that I could never be with Eric. If I had chosen to go with him on my own you wouldn't have been able to do a damned thing to stop me, but now you've got it all wrapped up with a neat little bow don't you?"

"You had already chosen the Wendigo before Eric showed his face. By rights I could have called the blood oath into question as soon as Eric contacted you and ended him then!"

"You said this would make my choice harder but that was a fucking lie! I don't have a choice now thanks to you! Take me back, Niall. Take me back and don't you dare show your god damned face to me again unless I call for you. Do you understand me? Because if you do I will find something with iron in it and it'll be me doing the ending."

I've barely finished my sentence when I am back in the tunnel and I feel wind and the sound of footsteps rushing towards me. I start to scream from sheer fright but then I find myself in Forrest's arms being covered by frantic yet gentle kisses.

"Sookie, Sookie, where did you go? Where have you been? Are you okay?"

"What? Forrest, there's a lot to explain but don't you think you're overreacting?"

"How would you feel if I disappeared for a month?" he asks incredulously, holding me at arm's length.

"That mother fu…, listen Forrest, I'm very sorry about this. I'm sorry to have worried you, it was thoughtless of me and I hope you can forgive me." I have too much too say and I can't be sidetracked by the knowledge of my lost time. It's something I should have remembered and yet here I am again a chunk of time older with no memories of the lapse.

"There's nothing to forgive now that I know you're safe," he whispers and kisses me again, this time deeply, urgently.

"Let's go up and talk, ok?" I ask, doing my best to end the kiss before it spreads its fire south and I lose all will to explain this mess.

We head up to the kitchen and I don't see Howard or Jack anywhere. Forrest sees me looking around for them and smiles.

"It's daylight, they're asleep." His smile is like sunshine; his happiness at seeing me again written in the lines around his mouth.

"Even better because this will be even more confusing for them than it will be for you and I don't think I can field questions from all three of you at once." I sigh deeply, take the cup of coffee he offers me and sit beside him at the kitchen table.

I preface the story much the same way that Niall did for me with the knowledge that Forrest wasn't going to like what I had to say. He merely nods while he looks down at his own cup of coffee and I can see him preparing for the worst. The look on his face is torture for me to see; he doesn't deserve the pain I see there.

I explain my heritage, my grandmother's involvement with Fintan, the Cluviel Dor and how I used it, the consequences of my using it, Eric's bargaining with Niall and the choices I have to make now.

"But Niall said that he can make Eric forget you, wouldn't that be the best way?"

"You would think so, but I am beginning to see more and more that with Fae intervention there are always going to be consequences. And to be honest, knowing what I know now, I am finding it really hard to be mad at Eric anymore. If you knew him like I do then you would see how unusual his sacrifice for me was. He's never been one to be selfless; like the fairy's he's always had secret motives for everything he's done."

"I know you still love him Sookie and I can see that things have changed but you have to know something," Forrest says, taking my hands in his, "When I came down and found you gone I went insane. I thought Eric had somehow taken you away. Of course it didn't take me long to find out that he had nothing to do with it since he was still in the cell. But I have never felt that kind of panic, that sense of loss in all my existence. As improbable and unlikely as it may sound to you, I want you to know with total certainty that I am in love with you, Sookie. I love you like I have never loved anyone or anything ever. I will do what it takes to make you love me that much too. I want you to choose me; choose to be here with me because I am the better choice for you, because I can give you everything you want. Stay with me because you love me too."

"I do love you Forrest, damn me but I do."

He smiles and leans his forehead against mine; I relish the coolness of his skin and breathe him in deeply.

"I want you to stay with me because you want to build a life with me, not because now you know you can't be with Eric. I don't want to be your consolation prize." He's staring at me now and the serious tone of his voice sinks in. I can't be upset by what he's saying if I want to be fair to him. He's one hundred percent correct; I need to stay for the right reasons.

I understand now what Niall meant when he said that this knowledge would make my decision harder. There is no question that I have to send Eric away to save his life. I can't end his 1000 year existence for any reason no matter what I might feel for him; I'll even ask Niall to erase his memory if that's what it takes. What I really have to decide is if I can find a way to give my whole heart to Forrest or if I should say goodbye to him for his own good.


	22. Chapter 22

Alone in the guest suite, I finally allow myself to break down and really cry. The tears feel hot as they stream down my face. I look around the lovely décor of the room and wonder why three bachelors living alone would have need for a suite such as this. It's like they were just waiting for some damsel in distress to come along so that they could have a place to stow her while they heroically battled the foul creature trying to steal away with her. Except I'm no damsel by definition and Eric isn't a foul creature; at least not to me.

I've found myself facing dilemma's before but never like this. Things had always seemed so cut and dried when I was faced with a choice before. When I'd had to choose between Bill and Eric, Eric was the obvious choice because of Bill's deceit. When I'd had to let Eric go when he'd gained his memory back it had hurt like hell but it had been the right thing to do since he's lost all our time together when he became himself again. Quinn had been easy to let go because I had determined by then that I wanted to be first in someone's life and he hadn't been able to give that to me.

When Eric had come back around into my life and became more than just a nuisance, things had been wonderful. I mean sure we'd had rival vampires plotting to kill us among other enemies, but he and I were beyond copacetic. We were phenomenal when things were right between us. There was fire, passion, unadulterated lust. Shit…

I hate when things just ping in my head like some wayward sonar. The realization is sudden and hard; Eric and I were good together in bed but that's basically where we spent all our time. Any time outside the bedroom was spent dodging bullets and stakes. There was never a calm time where we could really sit and make future plans or even have just a date night. I never doubted that I loved Eric and I still don't; but what was that love based on? Did our relationship ever venture much beyond sex and bonding in times of danger? We sure were jealous over each other a whole lot too.

Couple that realization with the fact that no matter how much I love Eric, no matter what he did for me to save my life; he belongs to another woman now. And not just any woman but a powerful woman; one who isn't going to just take losing her prized possession lightly. Because that's all really Eric is to her; a possession she can use. I couldn't feel any worse about the predicament that Eric maneuvered himself into to save my life nor could I feel any more powerless about what I can do to change things. But I can save him from feeling any more pain on my account. It's just a matter of overcoming my selfishness and asking Niall to erase me from his memory.

The option of wiping his memory clean of my existence hurts to think about. I won't even be a ghost from his past in that scenario. But if I leave with Eric, Niall has promised to kill him. If I stay here with Forrest without wiping Eric's memory clean of me then he will never leave us alone, will never take no for an answer. I would be putting Forrest and his brothers at risk for death or at the very least a lifetime of harassment, even if I don't stay with Forrest. He'll be subjected to Eric's rage until someone is dead.

So Niall truly has left me with no choice. Eric has to forget me; he has to make his way back to Oklahoma and to his Queen. And I have to stay behind and pick up the pieces, try to figure out if I can give Forrest everything he wants and deserves. Will I be able to give Forrest every last part of my heart? If I can't answer that with a resounding yes then I don't deserve him and he deserves a hell of a lot better than me.

"Niall," I say softly, I don't turn when I feel him appear in the room.

"I am here child," he answers softly from somewhere near the barricaded window.

"I've made my decision but I want to give reasoning one last chance. When the sun goes down I'm going to talk to Eric again, explain what will happen if he can't be reasonable, can't go away and let me be. Maybe knowing that his memory will be taken from him will be enough to get his solemn vow to never come near me again. If he agrees then you leave him alone, you don't contact him anymore. If he doesn't agree then you wipe me from his memory. You leave everything else intact, no funny fairy business, no messing with anything else. If it needs to be done, you do it, and then you fuck off. Go back to Faery, close all the portals and never reopen then for any reason. There will never be enough time in this world or love in my heart to make me forgive you for what you've done."

I can't even turn to face him, I'm so angry that I might decide to claw his cold blue eyes out of his head before he can serve his purpose should I need him to.

"I'll call for you if and when I need you," I hiss and I feel him disappear as quickly as he came.

I decide I need a hot shower and it's not long before I'm standing under the steaming water, feeling some, but not near enough, of the tension leave my shoulders. My thoughts turn to Forrest, and I can't help but smile a sad little smile. Forrest Bondurant, a man who I know so very little about, a man that has gotten into my pants so much quicker than any previous lover of mine. Hell, he was the one who spent more time resisting me; trying to be a gentleman as he so succinctly put it.

The whole pace of our relationship, if I can actually call it that, has been break-neck to say the least. Why? I don't think it's some kind of magic, I believe I've been around enough of that to know it and recognize it if this was the case. I'd always thought that Eric and I were soul mates so I'm not buying that pitch anymore. I think given the right timing and the right circumstances you could talk yourself into believing that just about anyone was your soul mate. So why has it been so quick to progress? Why haven't I felt weird about the whole thing (except the guilt from the morning after we first had sex, and that was just Gran talking in my conscience)? How did I get to feel so close to him, so quickly and how did he get to feeling the same way so fast?

I step out from the shower grudgingly and reach for the towel. I need to see Forrest, the urge overruns my better judgment and I wrap myself in the towel and bolt for the room across the hall.

The room is pitch black but I can hear music coming through his headphone. I reach for a light switch but find nothing on the wall near the door.

"Forrest?" I call softly because I know he can hear the tiniest of sounds, even over the blaring music. He doesn't answer me and I turn to go. Suddenly I'm stripped of my towel and pressed up against the wall with his lips tracking lightly against my shoulder.

"Sookie," he chants over the sound of the music bleeding out of his ear buds. He turns me around and I can't see a hand in front of my face but I can feel him there, even before he presses himself up against me. He's so hard, so ready and feeling him in this state of arousal makes me ready too. The music gets louder for a second; he must have taken the ear buds out. I think he's going to discard them on the bedside table but he puts them in my ears instead.

The song is unlike anything I would have imagined he would listen to. The music is heavy, bass driven, pounding drums. The singer is female with a raspy voice, her tone and the lyrics of the song dripping with sexual innuendo. Forrest has me blinded to his actions by the darkness and deaf to his intentions with this music. He has my hands pinned against the wall above my head. My senses of touch and smell are the only thing connecting me to the here and now. I feel him hesitate and I know he's asking if this is ok. I don't want him to ask permission, I want him to just take me. The thought of a wild passionate free-for-all has me crazed. I wriggle my hands free and drop to my knees. I can't see it but I find him instantly and take him in my mouth. I can't hear the sounds he's making but I can feel his entire body vibrate.

I do my best to take all of him in but there's no way I could ever. What I lack in technique I try to make up for in enthusiasm and I can feel him responding and I add taste to the senses that are guiding me now that I am blind and deaf. His fingers are in my hair, not forcing my pace but caressing my scalp. I moan, causing my tongue to vibrate against him and I feel his hand tense up. The singer is moaning about sex being a drug and I can't say that I disagree. I almost broke my neck running across the hall for this very thing. Maybe I didn't know it at the time but this is what I came here looking for.

The song continues and I feel Forrest hook his hands under my arms and lift me to my feet. He pushes my head to the side and I feel his fangs graze my neck. I shudder with anticipation but the bite doesn't come. I can't see him to gauge what he's about to do and the anticipation has me absolutely drenched. I feel his hand snake in between my legs and his fingers find my center. His hands are gentle but on point, keeping time with the music. The sinfulness of the lyrics and my lovers hand pleasuring me in the dark have me panting and moaning. I have no way to know how loud I am and the idea that Howard and Jack could hear me should quiet me but it doesn't.

Forrest knows what he's doing and I trust him. The song speeds up, the singer is screaming, asking me if I want to live before I die, Forrest's fingers speed up, keeping time and I feel it coming; the crescendo of release, bearing down on me like a wave. My heartbeat is racing, my moans have to be ear splitting and now they're turning into something more like screams. What he's doing to me physically and mentally has me insane and I don't care who knows or hears. I put both of my hands on his wrist and feel the muscles and tendons there working to bring me to orgasm. I can't breathe, I can't formulate a thought; all I know is the experience of him working me into this frenzy. It's here… it's here… and just as I reach the precipice and hang in the balance he strikes with deadly efficiency. Fang meets vein and I'm falling into the blackness of total release. His mouth latches on to my neck and he pulls on the flow of my blood as my body spasm, each of us in sync with the other.

His right hand has moved north to meet up with the other one as they cup my breasts. His mouth greets mine and his kiss is fierce; the softness of his lips crushing roughly against mine is an almost painful contrast. His tongue seeks mine and we duel for dominance briefly before I give in and let him take control. He picks me up and carries me to the bed effortlessly. I stand there in the darkness as the last strains of the song echo into nothingness and then there is total silence. All I can hear is the beating of my own heart echoing in my ears, the absence of the loud music has my ear drums in shock now.

Forrest pulls me on to the bed to straddle him; I can feel his sex between my thighs, hard and waiting. He lifts me up like I weigh nothing and pulls me down onto him. There is no time to adjust, my body stretches to accommodate him, and the feeling is intense but not painful. His hands lift me back up again and then pull me down onto him roughly. I put my hands on his chest and let my head fall back. I'm his toy and completely under his control. His arms do all the work and all I can do is enjoy the ride. Neither one of us makes a sound, to do so would break the spell he has cast. I can feel him start to tense up and I know he'll come soon; I can feel that I will too. The bed shakes with his exertions and my breathing gets faster, more shallow; I feel like I could actually faint from the experience of it all. His hands lift and pull me faster and I hear him taking in air through gritted teeth. So close, so close…

He pulls me down roughly one last time, impaling me, owning me and I see stars from the impact. The feel of him twitching and releasing inside of me couples with my own quaking and I fall into his chest. I feel his arms wrap around me and we roll over onto our sides, still locked together. I know nothing else for the next six hours as dreamless sleep takes me.


	23. Chapter 23

"Sookie," I hear Forrest whisper into my ear. I guess he thinks he's waking me up but the truth is I've been awake for hours now; I've just been too despondent to even think about getting up. If I get up I'll have to go to the bunker. If I go to the bunker I'll have to try and reason with Eric to let me go. I already know what he's going to say. The next step is asking Niall to erase me from his life. But there are questions I have to ask Niall first. I mean what about Pam and the other vampires who know me? Will they be relieved of me as well or will they be constantly trying to get Eric to remember? There are so many, too many; Felipe, Bill, The Queen of Oklahoma…

"I'm awake," I whisper back to him and I feel his arms tighten around me. It's comforting but right now I don't feel that I deserve comfort.

"I can feel how tense you are. I would've thought that last night might have helped release some of that tension. I guess I didn't do as good a job as I thought."

I smile and roll over to face him, even though I can't see him in the darkness of the shuttered room.

"Well now, I have to say that last night was amazing. And I would also like to add that your musical choices leave me baffled but I can't say that I don't approve."

I hear him chuckle and the sound is heartening. I am looking for any happiness to help stave off the heaviness of my grim task. I lean my head into his chest, snuggling underneath his chin.

"Yes, last night was wonderful but I dread what I have to do today. I'm going to alter someone irreversibly and I don't like wielding that kind of power. There are always consequences, usually unseen, that come along with fairy magic."

"As far as I can tell you're doing the most humane thing for Eric," Forrest mutters into my hair, "I mean, I can't imagine how hard it would be to see you walk away and know that you were gone forever. I would much rather not remember you at all than to live with the torment of losing you."

"I guess," is all I can muster. I close my eyes and press my face into his chest but I know the minutes are ticking by, the time has come and I can't delay any longer. I lift my mouth towards him and instinctively he leans his face down, our lips meet and I feel the same thrill as every time we kiss. Electric is the only word that comes close to describing it.

I sigh and start to extricate myself from his hold. He groans and I laugh because I feel the same way. He's far too comfortable to willingly leave. I ask Forrest to turn on the light as I search for my towel and am blinded temporarily when he does. I guess it's time for another shower before I head down below to do the dirty work.

As I head across the hall, towel wrapped tightly around me, I feel Niall before I see him as I enter the guest suite.

"Again, Niall I didn't call for you yet. I'd love to get a shower before I have to deal with you."

"I came now because I know you have questions."

"Yeah, I have questions, questions that can be answered AFTER I have my shower! And let's not forget that there are two true vampires running about this house as we speak who will drain you like a fae-flavored Capri Sun."

Niall shows no signs of acquiescing so I sigh heavily and sit down on the edge of the bed. Most grandfathers would feel hinky about being alone in a bedroom with a towel-clad granddaughter but like most Fae, Niall has no qualms about nudity of any measure.

"So what will happen to all the other vampires that come in contact with Eric? Will their memories be erased as well?"

"That would require more magic than I am able to conjure at this place in my existence."

"So how would that work then? He'd be reminded by people constantly of me. Isn't there a danger of him remembering somehow?"

"It would be like trying to remind a newborn of the hall of souls where they resided before being born, my child. Nothing can be said to make him remember, nothing said about you will make sense to him. Only deep magic could restore what I will take away, if that is the choice you make."

"So what's the price?"

"Price?" Niall asks far too innocently for my liking.

"Yeah, the cost! I know there is always a cost with you fae. Nothing is ever done for free or out of the kindness of your heart. I'm not even sure fairies have hearts. I want to know right now the consequences of taking away Eric's memories of me!"

"It will cost you nothing!" he exclaims and I catch on immediately.

"It will cost ME nothing but what price will Eric pay?"

Niall is silent, looking everywhere in the room except at me.

"You'd better tell me now Niall. I'm tired of fucking around."

"Eric will always know that something is missing and there is a chance that he could go mad from wondering what it is."

"What the…"

"Hear me out child, I said a chance but not for certain. "

"No, we have to find another way. We have to think of something else."

"Sookie, he has lived a very long existence, already defied the odds; he's defied death itself. So what is the great shame if he should meet his end? He's lived more life than most and perhaps it would be better for him to reach a conclusion instead of living on for another thousand years."

"The shame? I won't have his life ended because of me! The shame is to think of a world where he isn't in it! We HAVE to think of another way! You fucking monster! Every bit of this is your fucking fault!" I'm screaming now and I hear Forrest coming across the hallway, feet pounding into the wooden floor. The door flings open and the look on his face is murderous.

"Who the hell are you?" Forrest growls as he spots Niall, his voice booming across the width of the room. I rush to him and put my hands on his chest to try and hold him back.

"Forrest, this is my great grandfather, Niall. He's the fairy I warned you about."

"Hello Forrest," my grandfather says in his most polite and genteel tone.

"What's going on Sookie?" Forrest asks, his nostrils flaring, chest rapidly rising and falling.

"Niall has finally told me the cost of removing my memory from Eric. I can't let him do it, it could end up costing Eric his life."

"So what can we do? If you leave with him Niall will kill him, if he doesn't agree to leave you alone then you have a lifetime of him seeking you out…"

"I'm well aware of all that Forrest," I snap and instantly regret taking my frustration out on him. He doesn't deserve my ire, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to be harsh with you."

I take Forrest hands in mine and tiptoe to kiss him on his cheek and he smiles sadly at me. I know this whole situation is weighing heavily on his mind and I hate to be the reason he wears that look.

"The only other option you have my dear is to bind him and leave him somewhere for his Queen to find. She'll be sure not to let him out of her sight again, but he is a wily one and you can't be certain that he won't find a way to harass you in the future."

Something about him saying the word future clicks in my brain and I spin around to face my grandfather, the devious bastard.

"Wait, Niall. You said that when I used the Cluviel Dor to save Sam and ended up dying in his place that you went back in time to make a different outcome, right?"

"Yes."

"What's stopping you from taking me back in time and making sure that I never go to Fangtasia? Or even better yet, that I never even get any further than a quick how-de-doo with Bill? If I never meet Eric then he can't be here in the future to mess with me."

"True enough child, but you must realize that by changing the past you are rewriting the future as well. If you don't go through all the trials of the relationships you had in Bon Temps then you most certainly won't end up here eventually."

I look at Forrest and I know immediately that I can't give him up. He's too important, he's my future, my chance at something close to a normal life and I'm not willing to sacrifice that for anything.

"Why don't you petition the King and Queen of Tennessee?" Forrest asks from over my shoulder. I spin around again to face him, my look quizzical and humorously so apparently because he laughs when he sees my expression. "Yes, Tennessee has a King and a Queen but they aren't married, they're fraternal twin vampires who decided to share the throne. It seems that no one can separate them. I've met them, it was required of me and my brothers when we moved him; as far as monarchs go they are actually pretty nice. They may be able to help you with this situation. I mean, it's worth a shot, right?"

"How would I get in contact with them?"

"They're in Knoxville, they have a place at the top of the Sunsphere; it's some big joke to them that they live inside a sphere meant to look like the sun; they're real jokers like that. We can go tomorrow night if we need to."

"Okay, it seems like something we should definitely try if reasoning won't work. Niall, I know I've told you this before and you've ignored me but do NOT come here unless I call you. If Howard and Jack get ahold of you there isn't going to be much I can do to save you and I'm not sure I would even try. Now be gone."

I feel him disappear and watch as Forrest's face transforms with sheer wonder.

"Wow, that was pretty damned cool," he says and I can't help but to laugh.

"Only the first few times you see it," I tease and turn to head for the shower.

"You need some help washing your back?"

I start to turn him down but then think better of it. I drop my towel and look over my shoulder at him.

"Sure, why not."


	24. Chapter 24

Another day has passed with me losing track of time and my responsibility in Forrest's arms and in his bed. Eric is down below me in the bunker and yet I send Jack and Howard down with TruBlood for him in my stead. I know deep in my heart that reasoning with him won't work. He's so fucking stubborn and high handed. I am not even sure at this point if he really loves me or if it's a vampiric weenie waving contest with him now. Maybe his pride and sterling winning record won't allow him to concede defeat.

I smile as I hear Forrest come back into the room. I'm still adjusting to the fact that he needs bathroom breaks.

"Did you know that you can walk in the sun?" I ask as he pulls back the covers and climbs into bed behind me. I hear his breath hitch.

"Well, yeah, but Jack and Howard don't know. I never told them, it didn't seem fair that I could when they're the ones who miss daylight the most," He pulls me back to spoon against me and I shiver at the coldness of his skin but relish the closeness all the same, "And just how did you come by this information?" His hand slides up my side, his fingers caress every inch of skin they touch.

"Niall told me, or rather asked me if I knew. I lied and told him that I did because I didn't want that old son of a gun to have anything up on me. How did you find out?"

"You sure you want to know?" The pain in his voice makes me question if I really do or not but I nod and turn over to face him as he settles in beside me.

"It wasn't long after Maggie died. I was questioning everything, even more than I do now. I felt so much guilt about what happened to her, about allowing my brothers to be turned, about the possibility of my existence dragging on forever, about being alone…"

He sighs and I pull him close, he rests his head on my chest and I close my eyes, relishing the nearness of him. My hand strokes his hair as if it has a mind of its own. "I was just lying awake one day, Howard and Jack were dead to the world. I just kept thinking about how I was completely alone, unable to rest, and I just got up and walked out into the sunlight. I was just done with this life, done with the guilt and the endlessness. Imagine my surprise when I didn't burst into flames the way Howard had."

The sadness in knowing that Forrest had wanted to end his life is too much and I feel my eyes fill and spill over. I try to cry quietly but he looks up and see's my tears. Instantly he's hovering over me, kissing me and wiping the salty drops away.

"Don't you waste those tears on me Sookie; I'm happier now than any man has a right to be. I always knew something was missing but I didn't know how big a hole there was to fill until you did. I just never had the heart to tell my brothers that I still could walk around in the sun or that I had even thought about killing myself. And to be honest, if I was really serious about it all I would have to do is smash that mirror."

"Don't you EVER even think about that nonsense again!" I cry out and hug him as tightly as my arms allow. I can't get close enough to him to make the fear of almost losing him before I even found him dissipate. He hugs me back and I can feel the love, the desire for me flow from his embrace. This is my forever; I know it and feel it with all the certainty in the world.

"Why don't we get dressed and head down to the kitchen? I'm sure Jack is dying to make you something fancy for breakfast and I'm more than a little hungry." He's deflecting and I'm going to let him, it's easier than dealing with the knowledge of his suicide attempt right now. My growling stomach answers for me and I start to wriggle my way out of bed. Before I can escape entirely he pulls me back, positions me on top of him and kisses me with those amazing lips. I feel it all the way to my toes and a few important places in between.

"I love you Sookie Stackhouse. I've never told anyone those words, not even my ma and pa, and I don't say them lightly."

"I love you too," I whisper and feel the threat of tears again. Hearing him say it even though I already felt it is overwhelming.

"I want this to last, if I ever do anything wrong, forgive me and give me a chance to make it right."

"Sometimes you seem too good to be true, that's a little scary for me because in my experience, if something seems too good to be true it usually is." My words come out a little more ominous than I meant for them to so I kiss his nose and forehead before standing up. "I'll see you downstairs."

I glance back at him, lying on the bed with his hands behind his head. His mouth is slightly puckered and I can tell he's chewing on the inside of his bottom lip. It's a habit he has when he's deep in thought about something and I can't even fathom what it could be. Maybe he's wondering, like I am, how this all came about so quickly. How could two people who barely know each other be so deeply committed in such a short amount of time? I gaze at him for a moment longer, burning the image of him into memory for some unknown reason; the tousled hair, the pouty mouth, the bulges of his arm muscles, the careless way the sheets are thrown over his hips, hiding his package…

I could who, what, when, where and why the shit out of the situation or I could just go with it. I know how I feel about him and I know it's real. I'm just going to go with it, not over-analyze it and ruin it. Besides, DAMN, who could resist what is lying in that bed? I head across the hall into the guest suite and start making myself presentable. My stomach is in knots and I'm not hungry anymore. I can't shake this foreboding feeling, that a damned big shoe is about to drop.

It doesn't take me long to get dressed and I hear the DDS shutters lifting. I skip down the stairs to the main level, my stomach growling louder as I get closer to the kitchen.

"Jack, some banana pecan pancakes would be absolutely wonderful…"

Something's wrong, Jack isn't here wearing that ridiculous Donna Reed apron, Howard isn't at the kitchen table with his bottle of blood, feet propped up on the table top and hat tipped back. The kitchen is absent of anything except the smell of violence. Blood has been spilled here. I walk around the counter and trip over something. I pull myself up to my knees and turn around, sliding in the sticky cold mess on the floor. I recognize Jack only because of the wiry hair that's caked in blood on top of his head. He moans as I roll him onto his back and relief surges through me. He's not dead.

"Sookie," he moans and lifts his hand to point behind me. I turn, my heart beating faster than I ever thought possible. I already know who is behind me.

"Sookie, you are mine," I hear as I see his fangs flash. His hands grab and pull me to him. I manage to whisper his name, getting ready to beg him to leave me alone. I feel wind surge by as he steals out the door with me in his arms. We take to the air and in the distance behind me I hear Forrest screaming for me. I know I'll never see him again as the sound of his voice gets fainter by the second. Eric pulls me closer to his chest and I feel the tears come. I welcome the blackness as reality becomes far too much to bear.

#####

The smell is familiar; I know where I am even before I open my eyes. It smells like starched, sun dried linens, rose water, Vicks vapo-rub. Even though she's been gone a long time, this room still smells like Gran. But what am I doing here? I try to raise my hand to rub my eyes and realize that I'm bound somehow and the restraints don't allow enough movement to complete the gesture. I can see that it's daylight outside and I know that Eric must be asleep in the hidey hole across the hall.

It's not that it's so hard for me to believe that Eric would kidnap me; I just can't fathom why he would bring me here. I don't remember much after leaving Forrest's; I know we flew for hours; I was in and out of consciousness. I know at some point we were in some sort of shipping container, I awoke to find that Eric had wrapped himself around me, leaving me unable to move at all. I had roused him enough to let me use the bathroom in the corner of the container but I didn't bother trying to escape. I knew the door would have been wrenched too tightly for me to open it. When I had cleaned myself up as much as possible I had just sat in the opposite corner and cried myself back to sleep.

That was how many days ago? I can't be sure. I know I'm starving, I know I'm ready to piss my pants and I know there is probably no one close enough to hear me scream. I start to cry out loud, unashamed of the sobs that feel like they might rip my chest to pieces. I hear feet rushing to my door and sit up as much as I can.

Imagine my shock when kelley comes walking in with some toast and coffee.

"Darlin', how you feeling?"

"Kelley? Jesus, you've got to untie me! We have to get out of here before nightfall."

"Oh honey we can't go anywhere. I'm to keep you right here. And if you try to leave I have to take this razor knife and slice my wrists and neck!" She says all this while smiling brightly and speaking in a pleasant, almost chipper tone. She's been glamored. While she's arranging the toast and coffee on the bedside table, I look around the room.

"I thought my brother had rented the house out to some woman…"

"Eric told me we wouldn't have to worry about anyone coming. He sent someone to rent the house but he's kept it for you."

"Kelley do you know that he's glamored you? When did you see him last?"

"Right after you called and asked me to cover your shifts. He was at my door and asked me to invite him in. He came in and told me that you needed me to come to Bon Temps and wait for me. He had money and told me to buy an airplane ticket and then to rent a car. He'd thought everything through really well. If I can't keep you here then I have to die." She's frowning, puzzled at what is coming out of her own mouth. I've seen this struggle before; a glamored soul at war with what has been suggested to them and yet they're unable to fight it. She knows what she's saying is crazy but a vampire's influence is strong. She'll literally die trying to saw her own head off because that's what Eric told her to do. "Please don't make me kill myself," she whimpers and I see tears sliding down her cheeks.

"I won't I promise."

"And don't call Niall, whoever that is. I have to stab him with this if he comes," she cries and I see her hold up my granddad's old iron trowel. That mother fucking Viking has covered all his bases.

"I really need to pee, "I say and hold up my bound wrists. Kelley looks nervously at me, "I promise I won't go anywhere except the bathroom. I won't do anything that would cause you to hurt yourself. I promise."

She unties me, her shaking hands slowing down the process greatly. It hurts my heart to see her so upset and nervous and makes me a million times more pissed off at Eric. What the fuck was he thinking? But in all honestly he has made a pretty comfortable prison for me. I'm in my old house, granted the furniture is mostly new but nothing else has changed. He's brought in my best friend rather than some lackey who might be rude to me or cause discomfort. In a very weird way, this is like Eric being considerate if you take away the fact that he fucking KIDNAPPED me.

My legs are weak as I make my way to the toilet. I swear I think I lose ten pounds after I'm done. I'm starving as I make my way back to the bedroom. Kelley smiles at me brightly as soon as she sees me.

"Can we take this to the kitchen?" I ask and she hops up, grabbing the food and coffee for me. I'm limping slightly as I make my way to the new dinette set. I don't want to like it but it's something I would have picked out myself and it looks right at home here in this house. Damn him!

"Eric told me the fridge and pantry were stocked with all your favorites. He said you liked toast and coffee in the morning, I saw some huckleberry jam in the cabinet. Would you like some with your toast?"

"I know Eric has given you a set of rules to follow and has threatened your life if you don't toe the line, but Kelley, you're my friend and I won't have you waiting on me like a servant."

She frowns as I say it and I put my hand on top of hers. She looks up and smiles and I smile back.

"Everything is going to be okay."

I don't believe it and I know from reading her thoughts that she doesn't either.


	25. Chapter 25

As nightfall approaches my stomach ties itself into intricate knots that a sailor might use. I don't know what I'll do when I see Eric. I can't predict how the rage I feel at what he's done will cause me to act out. I might try to scratch his blue eyes out of their sockets but I'll never be able to reach them before he will pin my arms to my side. I might try to kick him in the gracious plenty but I'm sure he'll see that move coming from a mile away. I might try to ignore him completely but he's persistent. He'll do whatever is necessary to get my attention.

Kelley is in the kitchen baking some chicken and rice creation that she swears I will love. It smells delicious but I'm way too anxious to even think about putting a bite in my mouth. I've chewed my fingernails down to the quick, I've cried so hard that my eyes are puffy and swollen and so is my nose. My head is pounding, my ribs even hurt from the racking sobs born of desperation. I miss Forrest so much it hurts and I can't help but worry about what he might do if he thinks I'm never coming back. I wonder what he's doing now, I wonder if Jack and Howard are ok. I'm driving myself insane, I need to distract myself and quick or there will be nothing left of me to go back to Forrest with. I have to believe that I will see him again, that I will find a way to end this with Eric and make my way back to Tennessee. I have to get my friend home safely as well. I sigh heavily at the realization that I have dragged another innocent bystander into the disaster of my life yet again. I feel utterly dirty in every way imaginable.

"Kelley, do I have time to take a bath?"

"Yeah doll, go ahead, it'll be another 45 minutes before I even put the bread crumb topping on." She sounds like a robotic pod person, a shadow of herself. The words are what she would say but the way she says them is lifeless. I'm worried about what such a heavy glamor is doing to my friend.

The hot water of the bath steams up the mirror and I wipe it away with my hand to stare at myself as the tub fills. My eyes are sunken, black encircling them like bruises. My skin looks sallow, almost dead. I hardly recognize this person in the reflection and it's scary. It's not just that I don't look like myself but I don't feel like me either. I feel almost hollowed out, empty.

I sigh deeply as I sink into the steaming hot water. I've missed this tub. While it's not as big as the cast iron claw footed one back at my house in Tennessee or the virtual swimming pool in Forrest's guest suite, this one has always felt like it was designed to fit my body. I can comfortable stretch my legs straight out and lean back down into the water and it covers my shoulders. It's just one small advantage to being a shorter human being.

"Do you remember when we made love in there?"

I jump as Eric's words echo through the bathroom. "Jesus H., Eric! You scared the shit out of me!" I scramble to cover my body with the tiny washcloth but there's just too much of me and not enough of it.

"Cover all you want, I have every curve, every freckle, every sensitive spot memorized like a photograph in my mind."

"That's really pathetically weird. Can you please let me finish my bath?"

"I asked you a question Sookie; do you remember making love with me in the shower? I asked you if we had been lovers and you told me no, then I told you that I had been a fool…"

"Yes Eric I remember!" I snap at him, I'm in no mood for a walk down memory lane. I don't want to see his face let alone be forced to stroll through things I would rather forget.

"I remember claiming you, feeling something I had never felt before. Not even in my human life."

"For fucks sake Eric, you didn't even know who you were when we screwed the first time!"

"That wasn't screwing, lover. We were making love. I know the difference between making love and fucking. I've fucked countless women and some men; I've only ever made love to you."

Before I can scream at him to leave again he stands and walks out the door. I'm more than a little shocked. He didn't even try to peep at my boobs before he left the room.

I can hear him mumbling something to Kelley and I decide that I'd better skip the soak and get out there to protect my friend. I scramble out of the tub and into the bedroom to put my dirty old clothes back on. They aren't in a pile in the floor but instead there is a set of brand new clothes in their place. They'll fit me perfectly and will probably be something I would have picked myself and knowing this pisses me off greatly. I don't want to put them on because doing so will give Eric great, smug satisfaction but it's either wear them or go nude. I go with what will give my captor the least amount of satisfaction and start dressing.

When I make it to the living room I find Eric sitting on the sofa and no sign of Kelley.

"I sent her into town to the hotel until day. She needs the rest and I need you to myself with no distractions. And before you panic, the glamor she spoke of is only in effect while she's here in this house. Right now all she knows is to sleep until about an hour before sunrise."

"So what's next? Rape?" I regret the words as soon as I say them because they make Eric instantly angry.

"Rape? You think I'd rape you?" He stands up and starts pacing back in forth in front of the sofa. He looks like a caged lion only a hundred times more ferocious, "You think I would force myself on you like that? If all I wanted was to get off then there are hundreds of women a phone call away I wouldn't even have to glamor to fuck."

I apologize to him if for no other reason than to try and calm him down. Panic is rising up into my throat like bile, he really looks like he's about to break something. He looks at me and puts his hands up then sits back down on the couch.

"Then again, to be fair, I did forcibly take you from Tennessee," he sighs and leans his head back onto the back of the couch. "I would never rape you Sookie. I don't want you to fear me; I only wanted to bring you here so you might remember that you loved me."

"Christ Eric, I never forgot that I loved you! Or that I STILL love you, that I will always love you!" I'm screaming but there's no holding back the emotion, especially the anger. "But you chose to leave me! You chose to marry someone else, to publicly divorce me! You're the one who threw all that away Eric!"

"Did you ever stop to think for one second that I really didn't have a choice? That I had a greater plan for us? That I wasn't merely fucking rolling over and being a good dog like you suggested more than once?" He's screaming back at me and it's all I can do not to cover my ears and cower. "I had every reason in the world to marry Freyda but I never planned on it being a permanent thing!"

"What do you mean? You guys don't do divorce… do you?"

"No we don't do what humans consider divorce, but there's always the option of your significant other meeting an untimely true death."

"You mean you'd have Freyda murdered?"

"What other option would I have? You've made it very clear that you're not interested in being a human concubine nor do I want that for you permanently. I never wanted you to be anything less than my wife and with Freyda's passing you would mean you would be queen."

"Eric, it would never work. Vampires would never accept a human as a monarch, not even one married to you. Plus you'd be sentenced to die if you killed the queen and on top of that, as much as I don't like the bitch there's no way I would ever be ok with you killing ANYONE to make room for me!"

"I never believed that you wouldn't someday choose to allow me to turn you. And you've always known that I am ruthless when it comes to getting what I want. You might have tried to bury your head in the sand and ignore the truth but you never could. And if you think this Forrest wouldn't ask to turn you eventually, you're wrong. No one who loves you could sit idly by and watch you slip into infirmity and do nothing."

"Have you never known me? If you think I would choose to become a vampire then you're beyond wrong. And you don't know a thing about Forrest so keep his name off your lips!" I feel the fire of a fierce protectiveness take over. "He would never ask me to make that choice. He knows my feelings about it, he's never forced anything on me and he never would."

"Maybe that's because he doesn't love you like I love you."

"I don't think he does love me like you do. He loves me more because he has respect for me. If I told him to leave me alone, to let me be because I was happy, he would. Even though it would kill him and I think it would, literally, he would let me go because he wants my happiness."

"I think if he could let you go that easily then he doesn't truly love you nor need you. How could you let go of the air that you breathe?" Eric ends his sentence in a breathy whisper and I look to his face, searching for any sign of deception or melodrama and find none.

"Eric, it's never going to work," is all I can muster. I don't feel like explaining any more or going into the multiple reasons I know this to be true.

"It IS going to work."

"I don't love you like that anymore. I've moved on because you moved on, I've given my heart…" I hesitate before ending my sentence but I know it needs to be said, "and my body to another man. You need to let me go. If you don't want to be with Freyda then do what you need to do but don't do it because of some ill-conceived notion that it is going to bring us back together. It's not, Eric, it can't. I will always love you and there will always be a part of my heart that belongs only to you, but it's over."

"I can't accept that." Four simple words and yet hearing him say them makes my blood run cold.

"So what now? You hold me hostage for the rest of my life? You force me into an existence you know I would hate? You threaten everyone I love or care about to keep me subservient? All those are a form of rape, Eric and they're only going to make me hate you in the end."

"Look at me, look me in the eyes and tell me that you love that man more than you love me."

I raise my eyes to meet his and am torn to pieces by the crimson tears weaving their way down his face. I could never bear to see him cry and even now my anger doesn't quell the angst I feel seeing it.

"I don't love him more than you Eric; my love for him is different. My love for you was exciting and dangerous; you were always like an untamed animal. You were the unpredictable, savage and wild lover. But what did we really have outside of the bedroom? Honestly, we lived on the edge of danger, dodging stakes and bullets. We were drawn together by the sheer adrenaline that kept us alive! But I can't live like that anymore! I need sweetness to balance out the salty things that life has handed me. I'm getting older and I need stability. You're never going to want the calm, predictable life that I don't just want but need!" I'm pleading with him now and I can see his expression turn to stone. I'm not telling him what he expected to hear. "You're always going to have aspirations to greater things; you'll never be satisfied being stationary, even as a king. And regardless of what you think, I'm never going to want to be a vampire!"

"Nothing I say is going to change your mind." I don't know whether to take this as a question or a statement. "I thought about killing you, you know. When I first started to have feelings for you I thought it would be much easier just to end you than to wrestle with what I was feeling. I'm still not sure that wouldn't be the best answer."

"Eric, think about what you're saying…"

"Even more than that, if I turned you, regardless of what you want, you'd have to obey me. You'd have to do what I told you to. I can't glamor you but if you were my child you'd have to do what I told you to, even if I ordered you to kill that fucking hillbilly you love so much."

"You won't do it," I whisper but the look in his eyes has me questioning whether I believe this or not.

'Won't I?" he asks and stands up from the couch, advancing towards me like a predator and for the first time since the night I met him I am terrified of Eric Northman. His image blurs and then he's right in front of me, his hands on my neck, forcing my head to the side. I hear myself screaming; feel my hands feebly trying to push him away as his fangs come out. I hear glass breaking, wood splintering and there are voices shouting louder than mine. I collapse onto the floor as Eric releases me. I feel my head bounce off of something hard and then blackness.

#####

I wake up groggy, hearing muffled sounds all around me. My eyes are swollen and I can see next to nothing through the slits that narrow my field of vision. I remember the sounds of broken glass and splintering wood but nothing else. Eric! He was going to turn me but something, someone stopped him. Could Forrest and his brothers have found me?

"Forrest?" I call but my voice sounds like crumpling paper, raspy and dry. My throat feels like I've swallowed broken glass and my stomach rolls every time I try to move. I feel restricted, bound. I moan out loud and hear the sound of a phone dialing. An unfamiliar voice, deep and venomous sounding speaks.

"My Queen, the human is awake."

The sound of a phone snapping shut makes me cringe. It feels like my head has been beaten with a hammer.

"Eric?" I whisper and hear the rattling of chains, smell the all too familiar scent of flesh burning under silver and then the muffled wail of my would-be captor. Sudden lights blaze into life and I crush my eyes closed. There is pain like I have never known inside my skull and I feel like it could literally kill me with its intensity. Slowly I will my eyes to open as much as possible to take stock of the room I'm being held in.

It's very clinical looking; all white walls and stainless steel accessories, the same thing you would expect to see in a doctor's office. What's not normal is how I'm handcuffed to what appears to be an examination table but sitting upright, and how Eric is chained to another table like mine with thick, heavy ropes of silver. I can see smoke rising from open wounds everywhere his unprotected skin is touched by the poisonous metal and the smell of it isn't making my stomach situation any better. I can feel the vomit rising in my throat and I do my best to chew it back.

There is an armed guard standing by the door, human from the thought pattern I am able to pick up from his brain and most likely the one who called and announced my newly conscious status. This is how Freyda got inside my house, hired human lackeys. In a strange way I'm thankful, it may be borrowed time but I'm pretty sure I would already be dead if not for her intervention.

"Where am I?" I ask out loud and wince at the sound of my own voice. The guard doesn't answer but I can hear his mental voice urging that "fucking uppity cunt to get down here and do what she plans on doing".

"What is she planning on doing to me?" I can see him jump like he's been shocked, it's the typical reaction I've always gotten when I respond out loud to an unspoken thought. He doesn't get a chance to ask me how I knew what he was thinking before the door opens. In walks Freyda in all her perfect, carefully put together glory. Eric rails against his chains and breaks open new wounds thanks to his efforts.

"Well, if it isn't my wayward husband and his human blood whore." She sneers at me and taps her extremely long, manicured nails on the wall beside her. Her fangs look like something you'd see on a saber toothed tiger and I start shaking at the sight of them.

Yeah, this is not going to end well for me.


	26. Chapter 26

"Well Eric, like I told you before, I don't get the attraction," Freyda sneers as she squeezes my chin in her cold grip, turning my face from side to side like she's checking for bugs.

I can see Eric struggle against the silver again and I can hear his anguish as the metal burn deeper into muscle. I close my eyes against the sight. I hear the approach and I feel the sting of her slap as the Queen plants her hand firmly across my right cheek. The hit is strong enough to send my head reeling and force a cry from my lips. The chains rattle even louder, I know he thinks he's trying to help but I have a feeling that the more Eric protests her abuse the more she's going to beat me. Instead of looking at the Queen I look to Eric and mouth "please stop" as tears of pain slide down my cheeks.

"If you're going to kill me, please just get it over with. I've had about all the mental anguish I can deal with and I'm right at my threshold for pain."

Freyda answers me with another solid slap to the face and I swear I feel a few teeth loosen. I guess I'll take that as a denial of my request.

"I've no real taste for violence…"

"I beg to differ," I snark and give a snort before I can stop myself.

"I've no real taste for violence ordinarily," she re-states, "but I must say that you bring out something in me that is quite the opposite. I can't wait to bleed you dry," she hisses, her fangs close enough to graze my face. "And I plan on doing it all in front of you, beloved husband, as a wedding gift. I think once I rid the world of this miserable cunt once and for all you and I can proceed as I had planned." She smiles at Eric, saccharine and sunlight beneath heavy makeup and QVC crap jewelry.

I can't help but laugh, she's like a bad guy in a Scooby Doo cartoon, feeling like she absolutely must tell all of her dastardly plans because she's just that sure that nothing is going to stop her before her evil deeds are done.

"Does something strike you as funny?" She sneers, pressing her face all too close to mine once again.

"Yeah, you are. You think by killing me that you're going to make Eric love you? Let me tell you something queenie, I ran hundreds of miles away to escape this bullshit and he tracked me down, pulled me out of my new boyfriend's arms, literally, and ran with me back to Louisiana. Your problem ain't me, your problem is that Eric Northman doesn't give a flying fuck about you, let alone love you. Nothing you can say or do will change that, but killing me is damn sure gonna solidify his hatred for your overdone, moldy, blood-sucking ass!" I don't know what possesses me but I decided to drive my distaste for her proximity home by spitting in her eye.

Freyda shrieks, it's a very girly sound, and stands up, wiping her eye and effectively ruining the make-up job on the left side of her face. I can't believe how good that feels. I hear Eric chortle from behind his gag. Oklahoma back up and continues to wipe away a hell of a lot more saliva than I actually planted in her eyeball. She regains her cool composure and the wicked gleam comes back to her expression.

"In my infinite kindness I'll leave the two of you alone to say your goodbyes. But know this, you fucking bitch, when I come back I'll show no mercy as I gut you and drink every last drop of your blood. Ahmed, please ungag my husband, we'll leave these two while I prepare the implements."

I sure don't like the sound of her going to prepare her implements. I hear Eric growl deeply at the guard as he removes the gag from him, I'm pretty sure I even hear his teeth snap together. That's Eric, vicious to the bitter end.

As soon as the door closes I hang my head and start to cry. It was easy to keep up a brave front when Cruella DeFang was all up in my face but now that she's gone I feel nothing but despair. I'm sad that I'll never get to say goodbye to Forrest or his brothers, sad that Jason will never know what happened to me, crushed that I'm sure worse things than death await Eric once I'm out of the way. I shudder to think of the nefarious plans she must have been making the whole time he's been gone from her sight. Maybe I'm the lucky one to get snuffed out of existence. I know I wouldn't want to be the unfortunate fool that had to service the cesspool between those thighs.

"Sookie, you have to call for Niall," Eric rasps, his mouth working to repair the damage done by the silver gag as he tries to form words.

"I can't! If Niall comes here then he'll end you!"

"Sookie, if you don't then Freyda will most certainly end you and it won't be quick and efficiently. I've seen her work and she takes great pride and enjoyment from drawing out the torture. I've made a mess of everything and I know it's pointless to apologize…"

"No," I interrupt, "It's not."

"What?" Eric asks, the look on his face would be comical if it weren't for the circumstances we find ourselves in.

"It's not ever pointless to apologize. You owe me an apology."

"Let's not waste time with this, call Niall."

"Just apologize, let me die knowing that you had it in you to admit that you were wrong and the humility to say you're truly sorry for fucking up my life beyond words. Tell me that if things could be different that you would let me go to be happy, make me believe that if you could go back and do things over again that you could put my fucking happiness above your own selfish needs and wants!"

I'm screaming at the top of my lungs. I need to hear him say sorry, I need to believe it if he says it.

"Sookie, I truly wish that I could change the way things have come to be. If I could, I would go back in time and never have darkened your doorway. I'm so sorry for the pain I have caused you, I'm sorry to have been such a selfish creature that I couldn't put you first."

"I accept your apology. And I hope you mean it because help is here."

"What do you mean?"

"Just shut up and look angsty when Queen Cuntbag comes back. No more questions, but believe me when I tell you that if we get out of this I expect you to back up every little fucking thing you just said to me."

Help IS here, I can hear Forrest's voice coming in like a fuzzy radio signal. He's found me and he's brought back up. And apparently back up has a bone to pick with Oklahoma.

The door opens up and Ahmed the guard comes back in with Oklahoma in tow. She has a black fabric roll tucked underneath her arm and a murderous grin on her face.

"Now, where were we? Oh yes, I was planning out your demise, I think I'll start with your eyelids. You know I've found, from my extensive history of torturing humans, that the first thing females will do is close their eyes when the pain starts. I personally find this sort of reprieve unacceptable and a little rude. I put a lot of thought into how I send someone into the hereafter and the least one can do is show a little…"

The buzzing of Ahmed's phone interrupts the boring as shit prelude to a screaming symphony starring me. She huffs her cheeks out impatiently and motions with her head for him to answer. She unrolls the black fabric onto a small stainless steel table. I can't bear to look at the bloody tools tucked haphazardly inside the folds.

Please Forrest, hurry before she mangles me.

"Yes. I'll let her Majesty know," the guard says and clicks the phone shut. "My Queen, you have visitors waiting in the front of the house."

She doesn't even look up from the table as she tells him, "Send them away. I've no time for visitors."

"You'll want to receive these visitors, your Majesty."

Freyda slaps her hand impatiently down on the table, sending some gruesome looking pliers flying onto the floor. "And just why is that?"

"Because it's Jaime and Cersei Lannister, the King and Queen of Tennessee."

"Fuck me running," she mutters under her breath and if I were a betting woman I would say that she's turned a few shades paler. "Okay, have them wait in the throne room."

"Shall I call in back up? Just in case Cersei…"

"No! This must be handled delicately; you remember the last time that we crossed paths with that crazy bitch! I need to go and prepare myself for this nonsense."

As Freyda exits the room once again I dig deep inside Ahmed's brain. If he does indeed remember the last time Cersei crossed Freyda's path then it's something that I just might need to know as well.

His brain is a murky place to be, it has the sullied memories of someone who has been glamored far too much; he barely even knows who he is anymore. The glamor has scooped out most of the essential things that made up who he was and replaced him with suggestions of who the vampires wanted him to be. Sad really…

I gather what I need to know and back out as quickly as possible. Ahmed shakes his head as if he can feel me leaving and staggers backwards into the wall. He regains his feet quickly and looks around the room, shaking his head again. After he exits the room I start talking as fast as I can to Eric.

"What do you know about Jaime and Cersei Lannister?"

"I know that they're fraternal twins, co-monarchs of Tennessee. They have a very unconventional relationship as in a sexual relationship even before they were made vampire. Jaime Lannister is the first know vampire to regenerate a limb lost as a human after becoming one of us. Cersei Lannister is out of her fucking mind, literally insane."

"Did you know that your Freyda has been fucking Jaime for years? Even after you married her?"

I can see the wheels of Eric's mind start turning as what I'm telling him sinks in.

"You know this how?"

"Ahmed, he witnessed the whole thing."

"So you know that I can…"

"Shh!" I caution as the door opens and Ahmed joins us again.

"I need both of you to come with me. Your presence is required as a tribunal has been called by the Tennessee Monarchy and one Forrest Bondurant concerning the safety and welfare of Miss Stackhouse."

His voice is monotone and his expression dimmer than a 10 watt bulb. He's been glamored again since he left the room. His brain is practically Swiss cheese at this point but I need him to hold on at least until one specific memory gets pulled out of his gooey gray matter.

Ahmed works slowly but soon enough has me freed and then turns to work on Eric's bindings. He points his weapon at the two of us, urging us to head out of the room and into the hallway.

I can only assume that we are in the royal palace somewhere in Oklahoma because none of this seems familiar to me in the slightest. We're herded down a long, dimly lit hallway towards ornately carved double doors. They swing open before we get within reach of them and I walk into one of the tackiest rooms I've ever had the sorry pleasure to enter. I mean, I'm sure it's meant to look expensive and royal but to me it looks like Lafayette Reynolds was given a dollar store glue gun, some rhinestones, a few hundred yards of purple velvet and told to "go, girlfriend".

I see Forrest standing next to two blindingly blonde and beautiful people whom I can only assume are the twin monarchs. It's all I can do to stop myself from breaking away from Ahmed and running into his arms. The intense look on his face turns darker when he starts to survey the damage to my face. I hear the all too familiar growl and my heart skips a beat. Oklahoma has changed into an even tackier gown along with a Cowardly Lion-esque cape. She wastes no time in protesting the intrusion.

"As you can see the Stackhouse woman is here and is my prisoner. Now, might we do away with the formalities? There are things I need to attend to and as you know we don't share the friendliest of histories." She turns her glare away from me to Cersei and then back again to me. If looks could kill, well you know that old saying. Freyda stands as if to dismiss the rest of the vampires but the male twin, Jaime, holds his hand up and motions for her to stop.

"We are here to determine the validity of your claim on this woman as a prisoner, Freyda."

"Excuse me?" Oklahoma arches a well-manicured eyebrow at the King of Tennessee but she sits her ass right back down on her badly manufactured, second rate throne.

Jaime starts to pace back and forth in front of the throne, his hands gathered behind his back and the look on his face intent.

"Your claim is that this woman came to Oklahoma with the intent of luring your husband, Eric Northman, away from you. You also claim that she had premeditated a plot to convince him to murder you as well."

"That is exactly what I claim. I speak the truth."

"Our sources tell us that is NOT the truth. We have reliable information that Miss Stackhouse was in our territory when she was kidnapped by your husband. He then took her to Louisiana, to her hometown and it was you who then snatched her away and brought her here to Oklahoma."

"And why would I do such a thing?"

"Jealousy! Pure and simple! You only want things that you cannot and should not have you despicable twat!"

I'm shocked to realize that even though the voice sounds amazingly similar to Jaime's, the words are coming from Cersei. She's furious, enraged to the point of her entire body shaking uncontrollably. I don't doubt for a second that she's as insane as Eric implied after hearing and seeing this outburst. She points a bony finger in Freyda's face but Jaime calmly walks over and puts his arms around his twin. I can't hear what he's saying but the tones are soothing and after a tense moment Cersei seems to calm, at least a little. Jaime resumes his pacing and soon regains his train of thought.

"If this is indeed how you came about your prisoner then you have no true claim and need to release her into our custody." This is a different voice, a deeply creepy sounding voice that comes from the shadows to the right of the throne, behind the twins and Forrest.

"Magister," Freyda sputters, truly taken aback as evidenced by her tone and appearance, "I did not know you had accompanied The Lannister's and this outsider." She spits the last word at Forrest like he's the most undesirable creature she's ever laid eyes on. My dislike for her intensifies exponentially.

"Indeed, anytime there are allegations regarding the undue abuse of a human it's my duty to address them immediately. Surely you are as aware as I that in this day and age of species unrest and tension we cannot tolerate negative publicity in any measure."

"Publicity? I don't understand." Freyda's sputtering has gotten worse in the last minute or so.

"Mr. Bondurant has taken it upon himself to campaign for the release of Miss Stackhouse. He has released to every news station in Tennessee and Louisiana the surveillance video of your husband, Mr. Northman, snatching Miss Stackhouse from his home as well as video of Eric dealing severe injuries to his brothers!" The Magister's voice raises nearly an octave with each sentence. Soon he'll be hitting dog whistle territory. "I'm sure I don't have to tell you how tentative our seat of power is in the Tennessee territory to begin with; they've been the most resistant to our kind out of all of the states." The thin ghoul of a vampire emerges from the deep shadows and points his finger at Eric who, up until now, has been a statue beside me. Eric clears his throat but it's me who speaks next.

"Magister, with your permission I think I can clear things up."

"By all means, please do so. And please accept my apologies for your treatment at the hands of Oklahoma and her consort." I can tell that the words coming out of his mouth taste like shit. He honestly wouldn't care if Freyda gutted me with a rusty butter knife except for the fact that this has turned into a PR nightmare thanks to Forrest and his high tech surveillance system.

"Mr. Northman, while misguided, kidnapped me because he believed me to be in danger. He told me that The Queen of Oklahoma planned to have me murdered!"

"I protest my innocence!" Oklahoma jumps up and waves her arms, laying it on thick or rather clutching her pearls as Lafayette would say.

"You'll hold your tongue until I tell you otherwise!" The magister is squeaking at this point but there is real venom in his words and Freyda quiets and sits back down heavily. Now it's my turn to layer it on with a trowel.

"Eric Northman and I parted as friends, he was doing nothing that I would not do for him. He knows that I am in love with Forrest, um, Mr. Bondurant," I take a second to pause dramatically and give a genuine smile to Forrest who blinds me with one of his own. "However he didn't have much faith in Forrest's ability to protect me from Freyda. So he took matters into his own hands. Eric acted out of selfless concern for me, nothing more." I start to take a step back but suddenly turn as dramatically as I can towards Ahmed. Now is the time to see if I am as good an actress as I think I am.

"What?" I shriek theatrically and grab my head as if in pain.

"Miss Stackhouse?" The Magister steps towards me and takes my elbow as if to steady me.

"It can't be true, surely she wouldn't…"

"What is the meaning of this?" Freyda roars from her perch.

"You! You were having sex with Jaime Lannister this whole time!" I scream and point at Oklahoma, putting my hand over my mouth.

Cersei looks like she might literally explode and Jaime stops his pacing, looking at me with his mouth agape.

"And just how do you know this?" the Magister questions as he turns his dark gaze towards Freyda.

Eric beats me to the punch, he's caught on to my deep game and is playing his role just like I'd hoped he would.

"Miss Stackhouse is a well-known telepath who was in my employ long before we started a relationship. Her skills at reading the minds of humans are impeccable; there is no doubt it's one of the reasons that she has remained invaluable to the vampires."

"I heard him thinking it, just now," I whimper as if in pain while mentally asking God to forgive me for my little white lie. "He stood guard in the room as she had sex with Jaime. Apparently he was blackmailed into a sexual relationship with her. She claimed to have footage of him draining a human and held it over his head to force him to do it. She had Ahmed stand guard in case Jaime tried to give her a final death. Ahmed knew all along that Freyda had no proof whatsoever that he had drained a human, she'd only had a lucky guess all along." I end my sentence, staring at Jaime, trying to will him to understand that I'm giving him his way out. It works.

"Yes, Freyda blackmailed me into a very unwanted sexual relationship. I would not wish to ever bring our kind into a bad light and we all know that accidents happen sometimes when feeding from willing donors." Jaime backs away from the throne and deftly maneuvers to Cersei's side, grasping her hand. I decide to play one last card, well to bluff actually.

"You can glamor Ahmed into telling you the truth. He has it all in his memory; I can see it clear as the nose on my face."

It's bullshit. If the Magister should choose to call my bluff and glamor the guard he will indeed find that Jaime and Freyda were fucking like rabid weasels but he won't find that she blackmailed him. I try not to hold my breath because I know it's a dead tell sign of a liar. The Magister looks at all the faces in the room as if he can discern the truth with his gaze. Hell, maybe he can, you never know what funky gifts a vampire gets when they're turned. I feel like I might piss my pants from fright. Finally the Magister speaks and when he does I tinkle just a little bit; I can't help it.

"There's no need for that. I have all the proof I need. The Ancient Pythoness will be called but in the meantime," he says as he turns towards Freyda, "Freyda Samuelsson, Queen of Oklahoma, I bind you as my prisoner under the power of the one true Vampire Authority. You are hereby charged with being in breach of your marriage contract to Eric Northman which states that while you may engage in extra-marital affairs they may not include affairs with other members of Vampire Monarchy according to statute 217.5. To do so means dissolution of the marriage and forfeiture of all property and monarchal rights to the wronged vampire partner. You are also charged with blackmail of a monarch, either of these offenses are punishable by final death or banishment to the bottom of the ocean for all eternity. Do you understand the charges as explained to you by me, Lucius Carnagie, Magister of the Greater Southern Territories?"

Freyda doesn't answer him but instead looks right at me, venom dripping from her fangs and her words. "I don't know how or when but I swear to you, I'll get you for this, and when I get you there'll be no inbred, redneck half breed to save you from my wrath." She's spitting, she's that fucking pissed.

The Magister rolls his eyes and pulls out his phone, punching in numbers without even looking. "Louis, put a call in for me. I need the Pythoness at the Royal home in Oklahoma as soon as vampirically possible."

I laugh out loud at the word vampirically and it's the tipping point for Freyda. I see her image blur and then she's in front of me, my neck in her hands and she's squeezing. I don't have time to scream before I see blackness overtaking my vision. Her face is mangled with her fury and I see my death in her eyes. Her face is not the last thing I want to see before I go to meet my maker. Then just as suddenly her head is gone from her shoulders and her hands loosen her grip on me. I feel the blood flow return to my head and see Cersei standing there with Freyda's head in her hands, Oklahoma's mouth is still moving with disbelief, the unseeing eyes blinking.

"On second thought Louis, cancel that. We've no need for the Pythoness anymore."


	27. Chapter 27

I sit across the table from Eric and the weight of the world shows on his face. He won't back out of his promises but I know that he's trying his best to find a reason to declare those promises null and void. Forrest is waiting for me in the throne room of the palace that now belongs to my former lover. He had simply nodded his head when I asked him to give me some privacy with Eric. When I'd followed him into this room I'd known that nothing that was to be said in here was going to be easy, that tears were going to be shed and hearts would be broken. So here at this preposterously huge conference table I wait for Eric to start this conversation; the ball is in his court now.

"Sookie…" he says, several times, but never finishes his thought, at least not out loud. I know this is killing him, it's killing me too. We're saying goodbye and I'm sure it's going to be for forever. Eric and I will never be the kind of exes who get together for a beer with our new partners and hang. I don't want to have a visual reminder of what used to be mine with his new missus any more than I'm sure Eric would want to see me all lovey dovey with Forrest. I take the ball back and start the dialogue since it seems like Eric just isn't capable.

"Eric, this is our chance to say goodbye. I know you think this is some sort of defeat but you're looking at it all wrong. We had our time and it was wonderful, it just wasn't something that was built to last."

"I disagree," he counters but I hold up my hand to silence him. There will be no debate on this. I am holding him to his word.

"It wasn't ever going to be forever and let me explain why. Right now I'm young, everything is in the right place and to be honest I don't think you would have found me near as fascinating if you hadn't had to work so hard to get me. When I get older your feelings for me will change. You're never going to age a single day, can you really say that when I'm fifty or sixty that you'll still want me, still want to be with me? I guess you've always banked on this idea that someday I'd flip completely and beg you to change me but honey, it just isn't going to happen."

I give what I said a chance to sink in and he sits like a man made of stone, staring at his hands.

"You'll ask to be changed but it won't be me you ask."

I sit back in my chair and sigh loudly. This is exactly what I was afraid was going to happen. He's so jealous of Forrest that he can't see the, well, the forest for the trees. He'll never understand my reasons but he HAS to keep his word.

"I went to a seer after you and I began our intimate relationship," he says, still staring at his hands, "I was so fearful of losing you, so fearful of your fragility and I had to know how things would end. I couldn't stand the thought of losing you to an act of violence or to a pointless accident or to another man. So I went to a seer that Pam told me about, one who had predicted many things that came to pass." Eric stops and pushes his chair back from the table, leaning his body back and stretching his long legs out underneath. "She told me that she saw a pretty blonde woman with fangs, that this woman was someone that I would always love and that she was walking with her true love in the sunlight. I just assumed that I was your true love and that your fairy blood would make it possible for us both to day walk as vampires."

"I don't believe that people can see the future, there are too many variables from day to day. I've faced death too many times to believe that my story is set in stone," I mutter but what he's told me has me reeling.

Eric stands and walks across the room to the door, his hand on the knob. Without turning to face me he says, "Tell me one more time that you want me to leave you alone, that you want to be with him and not me."

"Eric, I love you and always will but I want the simple life that Forrest can give me. I can't be a part of vampire politics, I don't want the life that comes with your title and I don't want to spend what time I have loving you but knowing that one day you might not feel the same about me anymore. Even if I were a vampire I could never adjust to the way of life that you need to live. We were never meant to be forever Eric. Please, you have to let me go."

Just as I think he's going to leave he blurs to my side and takes me in his arms.

"Sookie Stackhouse, even though it hurts to let you go I can't be bitter. My life is only better for having had you if only for a little while," he whispers into my hair. "This man had better be good to you. I will never forget you, even though in time I may wish that I could."

He squeezes me to his chest for a brief moment. Then he's simply gone.

I can't help but to cry at the loss of him. I know I'm selfish in wanting him and Forrest but Eric has had my heart for so long that it feels wrong to think of never seeing him again. I know this is the way it has to be however it doesn't feel right. Even when Eric and I weren't on speaking terms I always knew in the back of my mind that he was merely a phone call away, that if I needed or wanted him all I would have to do was pick up the phone.

I hear the door open and I look up through my tears to see who it is. I see Pam standing in the doorway, her eyebrow raised and I know it's her way of asking me if she can come in. I smile and sniffle, waving my hand in greeting. "Hi Pam, come on in."

"Don't take this the wrong way Sookie because I say it out of love, but you look like shit, doll."

I ignore the insult and look around the room for a box of tissues or anything suitable to blow my nose on. "When did you get here?"

"Anubis delivered me sometime during the day today. I got called up yesterday by the Queen. I can only assume, since I woke up in silver, that she meant to use me as leverage to get the desired result from Eric. I'm glad she's dead, it couldn't have happened to a bigger cunt." She smiles viciously as she hands me a pink handkerchief from her jacket pocket.

That Pam, such a way with words; I can't help but to smile as I blow my tears and snot into what I'm sure she isn't going to want back.

"Are you okay?" I ask as I fold the Barbie-pink square and push it into my pants pocket.

"Right as rain, not so sure about my Master but I'm good. He tells me that this will be the last time that I see you. He's forbidden me from contacting you again. What did you do to piss him off this time?"

"It's not like that Pam. We're really saying goodbye this time. I guess he's trying to save himself some hurt, he knows that if you're in contact with me then he'll ask you about me and it'll be like ripping the scab off over and over again. Wounds never heal if you don't leave them alone."

"You're serious?" She's eyeballing me; her look incredulous until she sees the seriousness in my face. "You're serious," her question turns to a statement and the eyebrow is no longer cocked. She looks as shell-shocked as one of the undead can. It's the biggest reaction I've ever gotten out of her.

"Pam, this is it. Anything you've ever wanted to say to me, good or bad, now's the time to get it out."

She breaks eye contact with me and looks down at the table. Her mouth opens and snaps shut several times. "It's just that…" snap "I just never…" snap "You and I have…" SNAP "Well goddamn, Sookie, you're my favorite human. Goddamn it." She doesn't say anything else but just stands up and walks slowly out of the room closing the door behind her.

There is a moment of panic where I wonder if I'm doing the right thing by letting Eric go. He's familiar, even with all his bullshit politics and medieval mindset. He's as predictable as he is spontaneous, he knows everything about me. I'm not just losing him but I'm losing Pam as well. Am I spitting in the eyes of fate and destiny by turning away someone that I know beyond a shadow of a doubt loves me? What if he's the one and I'm ruining everything…

"He is not the one for you my child."

Fucking Niall, AGAIN.

"You leave now and don't you dare harm a hair on Eric Northman's head!" I scream before I even turn to face my grandfather.

"I have no reason to harm him now; the balance has been restored by the death of Freyda. It was going to be either you or her today and I'm pleased to see that it was not you."

"I want you to promise me something and swear whatever fairy oath you have to in order to seal it."

"Anything for you, granddaughter."

"I want you to go the fuck back to Faery, I want you to close the portals. I want your solemn vow that no matter what happens in my life or in Jason's life that you will never come back or interfere in any way shape or form, no matter what. Promise it now, swear it!"

"But that means I'll never get to hold…"

"I don't care what it means," I interrupt, waving my hands like a mad woman, "All I want is your solemn vow to never come back. I love you Niall, as much as I can love someone who's meddling has cost me so much. But I don't want you in my life, I have a chance at happiness and I can't risk any more of your misguided attempts at saving me." I'm staring him down, angry and sad all at once. I'm banishing my own kin forever by asking this and it's not an easy decision to make nor was it easy for me to ask.

"You'll be happy child. You will be so happy. I vow to never return to this world. Unless," he holds his finger up, "You call for me. Then I will return. But I will wait to be asked and I do believe one day you'll need me again." He straightens his coat and smiles at me, his face crinkles in a grandfatherly way and I love the tender way he looks at me. "Goodbye Sookie."

He leans in and kisses my forehead. I close my eyes and feel the magic of his light all around me as he disappears into another world, one that I've only glimpsed a couple times.

"Goodbye Niall."

####

It's been about a half an hour since I banished my grandfather from my life. I've had nothing but my thoughts as company for about twenty-nine minutes too long. Numbness is starting to set in; it's my natural defense against intense emotional trauma. I hear a light knocking at the door.

"Come in," I call, barely able to raise my voice above a whisper.

I hear the door open but I don't look to see who enters. I know it's Forrest even before he scoops me out of the chair and into his arms, cradling me to his chest like a baby. His touch breaks through the numb and starts an avalanche of emotion and words.

"Thank you… thank you for finding me, for fighting for me… for saving me," sob into his chest as he holds me close. The dam has burst and I know I can't staunch the flow of tears until they've run their course. There is anger, pain, heartbreak and agony in the hot streams that fall from my eyes onto his shirt. His hand soothes me as do the words of comfort and love he whispers to me as I cry.

"I love you so much, I can't be without you. You've saved me a million times over and I will spend the rest of my life making it up to you Sookie. I love you, I love you…"

He holds me until there is nothing left in me but an emptiness that I leave for him to fill. I need him to show me that he loves me. Words are pretty but actions are beautiful. But for now it's enough to know that he came for me, that because of his actions and tenacity I'll live to see another day.

He's rocking me back and forth, the motion lulling me, making my eyelids heavy, making sleep seem like the only reasonable thing in the world right now. But no, I need to get out of here. I need away from this place, away from Eric and the corpse of his now deceased wife.

"What's the situation with the Magister and the twins?" I say as I push up off of his lap. I know I must sound cold to him right now but the slightest thing is going to set me off into another crying jag.

"Cersei is being held for the murder of the Queen but it's just a formality. Eric has already said that he doesn't wish to press the matter, the killing was justified. The Magister as well as Jaime are staying here in Oklahoma until the whole thing is settled."

"Do I have to stay? Do you?"

"No, we're free to go at any time."

"Then let's get the hell out of here."

"Where do you want to go Sookie?" he asks, his voice soft and low. He chews on his bottom lip while he waits for me to answer.

"I want to go home."

"Home," he repeats and I hear a hint of sadness that threatens to make me cry all over again. Can he possibly not know that I can no more live without him that I can air or water?

"Yes home," I call out, my voice cracking, "home with you."

The smile he graces me with is nothing short of angelic. I'm back in his arms again and those soft, pillowy lips are kissing me, sending shivers and electrical shocks all over and through me.

"Take me home Forrest and never let me out of your sight. I'm a danger magnet you know."


	28. Chapter 28

Amtrak is our chosen method of getting back home. Who would have thought that I'd ever find myself on a passenger train? I am in no hurry to get anywhere now that I know Eric is okay, that Kelley is safely back on her way to Tennessee and that I'm with Forrest. It was his idea to take a train. He's always wanted to, he told me stories of how he and his brothers, in their youth, would hop onto boxcars and ride the trains to the next town over. One of Eric's newly acquired day men dropped us off at the Oklahoma City station and within less than an hour we were boarding this train bound for Staunton, Virginia. From there the plan is to rent a car and make the four hour drive home since the train doesn't run any closer to Tennessee.

I'm alone in our sleeping car; Forrest has gone to the Café car to get food. Neither of us has eaten anything for over a day and I feel like I could eat a whole cow. Knowing Forrest he may bring back enough steak to make a whole cow. He has a way of overdoing everything when it comes to me. He'd carried me like a baby from the mansion to the car, refusing to let my feet touch the ground. We found out on the way to the train station that his blood doesn't have the same healing properties as a normal vampires blood does. He might have drained himself dry trying to heal all my war wounds if I hadn't stopped him. The way that he'd touched my face gently as he'd surveyed the damage had been so tender and loving that it'd almost brought me to tears.

Back in the day Eric and I would have been fucking like rabbits in the back seat of the limo to desperately celebrate the fact that we survived yet again. Forrest simply held on to me like I was the most precious thing in the universe. He whispered to me how he would never let me go, that he would spend forever making sure that I had everything I ever wanted and needed. Forever; something inside me had clicked when he'd whispered that word. I'd realized that we wouldn't have forever. But we could possibly have forever and it wouldn't mean that I would have to give up the sun to get it.

Everything Eric had said to me about asking for eternity had all made sense in that one moment. I had never even imagined asking Eric to turn me because I abhorred the thought of never seeing the sun again. I hated the idea of having to drink blood, even the synthetic, to survive. I despised the idea of becoming a predator that craved killing and devouring and had to spend eternity fighting the most basic of vampire instincts because it would mean taking a life or possibly getting staked. It's not that I had never wanted a forever after with Eric; I just hadn't wanted to be like him. I was always afraid that if I were turned I wouldn't be me anymore.

I don't know how Forrest is going to feel about this though. He's already pretty guilt ridden with what happened to Maggie and with his brothers being traditional vampires. And I'm not even sure my mind is made up about this; this isn't the sort of decision you make in the heat of the moment. I'm all caught up in the good feelings of being reunited and having Forrest look at me with such love. But can love like this last forever? Do we have a solid foundation to base an ever after on? This whole thing has been such a hurried affair; we've fallen in love with each other beyond a shadow of a doubt but love fades, it always does. If we stayed this intense about each other forever we would surely wear ourselves out. There has to be more, there has to be a solid friendship that can stand the test of time so when the passion fades we can sit comfortably beside each other and not have the silence be awkward.

I sigh loudly and throw my hands in the air with exasperation. I'm overthinking again like I always do. This was one of the main causes of the problems with my relationship with Eric. I spent far too much time thinking about all the things that could go wrong that I never relaxed enough to enjoy all the things that were going right. Maybe it's time I let go of trying to control every little thing. Maybe it's way too soon in this relationship to be thinking about forever. Maybe I shouldn't even be worrying about if this is built to last or not and just go with the flow of things. So many maybes…

I hear the door to our compartment slide open and I turn to see Forrest, his arms loaded with more food than two people could eat in one sitting.

"They didn't have anything hot but I grabbed two of each kind of sandwich, some chips, three or four different kinds of cake and a couple slices of pie and…" he stops midsentence, his forehead crinkled into lines, his eyes bright with the overhead lights reflecting in them, "what?"

"Nothing," I laugh as I cross the short distance and start helping him to unload his arms onto the small table. I giggle as I notice that his jacket pockets are laden with about six different bottles of soda, juice and flavored tea's. "I was just thinking that you might come back with way too much food."

"Well I have a devious motive for doing that very thing."

I feel a tingle shoot straight up my spine as his voice takes on a huskier than usual tone. "And what might that reason be?" I ask and my voice is as equally insinuating in tone.

"It's nearly a three day, scenic trip and we have a sleeper car with really huge windows to enjoy the view. I really don't want to leave this car or get out of bed more than I have to. I can actually look forward to two more sunrises with you, feeling the heat on my skin before it's back to the daylight defense system routine."

My heart hurts to realize that Forrest intends to keep up his charade with his brothers. Although I understand the reason why, it makes me sad that he can't just be honest with them, that he can't be himself.

"Sookie, I just can't tell them," Forrest says as if he can read my mind. "I don't think you have any idea how much that would hurt them, Jack more so than Howard. For me to still be able to live a normal life while they're literally stuck in the dark is the greatest injustice. I just can't…"

"But how much is it going to hurt you to keep this secret, how much is it going to hurt us?" I ask, my stupid voice going all trembly like it does when I'm fighting tears.

"When you were with Eric you never saw a sunrise together did you? Think of it this way, it only applies when we're at home but no one says we have to stay at home all the time. I plan on finally taking a trip to anywhere and everywhere now that I have you to share it with. Where have you always wanted to go but never thought you could? I swear to you that's the first place we'll travel to."

He's placating me and it's almost working. But I keep thinking about how lies have teeth, how no matter the noble reason behind it, an untruth can rip people apart and I can't shake the sadness.

"Well," I start after plastering on my best smile to hide my sorrow, "I have always wanted to go to Niagara Falls."

"Here I was thinking you'd say something like Scotland or Hawaii but nooooo; you want to go see a waterfall!" He's mocking me; his smirk gives away his intent even though his eyes are trying to be serious. I throw a packet of chips at his head and he ducks with super speed causing the bag to burst against the wall and rain down greasy flakes of deep fried potatoes all over our bed.

"Well excuse me but it's not just a waterfall, it's one of the Seven Wonders of the World I'll have you know!" I say as I head over to the bed to clean up my mess. Forrest grabs me from behind and spins me around, his face very near mine, his pupils wide and the color of pitch.

"Where ever you want to go is where I want to be. It doesn't matter to me as long as we can be together."

He kisses me and instantly my body responds like it's been plugged into an electrical socket. My skin burns for his touch, my mouth can't taste him fast enough or kiss him hard enough. Clothes fly in every direction and soon we're pressed flesh to flesh my back against the door of our compartment.

"I can never get close enough," Forrest moans into my neck as his lips make love to the sensitive skin there. "How can I please you? Tell me and I'll do anything, anything…"

He falls to his knees and pulls my panties down. I step out of them as he looks up at me, never breaking eye contact as his tongue finds its way immediately to my center. His hands knead my ass as he slowly moves his tongue in circles. My knees are shaking and I feel like I might collapse but I'm mesmerized by his intense stare. He moves his right hand to my front and I feel him slide fingers inside me, moving them in time with his tongue. It's all I can do not to cry out and I can't say for sure what's bringing me more pleasure, his mouth and hands or the look he's giving me.

I can't wait anymore, I need him inside of me, I crave that closeness and I'm not waiting for it another second. I grab his shoulders and urge him up, kissing him deeply the minute his mouth is near mine. He grabs my right leg with his left arm and hooks it under my knee. I feel him pressing at my entrance, asking permission. I cry out, impatient to have him fill me and he presses upwards into my center. The feeling as he stretches me is bordering pain but agonizingly beautiful instead. I cry out and clasp my arms around his neck. He hooks his free arm under my left leg and now he's supporting me entirely, thrusting into me as I'm suspended in the air. This angle gives him a deeper penetration and he's hitting a place inside of me that's been untouched, I'm feeling a sensation that is completely new to me and before I know it I'm crying out, shaking like I'm having a seizure and kissing him so hard that I feel like my lips might bleed.

He doesn't even slow down, his thrusts speed up and I feel that tension building again, feel the muscles in my abdomen tighten with the impending release of another orgasm dangerously close.

"Please, oh god, don't stop!" I cry out and feel the muscles of his arms contract around my legs. He's close and I want to finish with him.

"Tell me you love me," he breathes roughly into my ear, his voice ragged and sultry with desire. I'll tell him anything, anything at all. I put my hands on both sides of his face and make him look at me. He's thrusting, breathless, waiting on what I'm about to say. I look him deep in the eyes and say with every ounce of conviction in my body, "Forrest, I love you."

His eyes close and he squints as he finds release deep inside of me in time with my second. I can't stop kissing him as he collapses on the bed with me on top of him.

"Please tell me there was a turkey sandwich somewhere in that shitload of food you brought," I laugh. I'm looking forward to the rest of this trip home to say the very least.


End file.
